Square Dance Reunion

We hosted a reunion of folks we used to square dance with in the late 1970's and early 1980's.  (We had to stop dancin due to my leg pains and weakness.) Our best pals The Hecklers  ;)) are our dear friends who we met when we first joined the group, and we been close ever since.  2 weeks ago I ran into another couple at the doctors office that I had not seen in awhile. (Where else do old friends continue to meet each other than at the health care places???) 
Anyhoo, I told these folks that the Hecklers were coming into town next week to stay 2 nights with us, and maybe we could get together then.  They said OK!  So after all was said and done we had called a few more people, and we got a reunion goin'.
18 of us had a gab fest, laughed a lot, got perturbed when we couldn't hear a damn thing, got helped out by those who can still hear well, got helped up outta low chairs and couches when our gettin-up got up and went, and in general had a great time!!
Two of our beloved widows agreed to be picked up and brought to the house for however long they could take all the noise, and they were troopers, probably pushing beyond their normal endurance!
God bless us everyone, and THANK YOU that we had a beautiful day and night of reunion!  (Today it is raining like mad.)  8 of us even stayed awake talking until after 10 PM.  So there, old age! Take that!

(ok, don't send me hate mail, friends, I be teasing you... even tho I AM just a kid compared to Ed.
 HI, ED! )
Thanks to those who drove almost 2 hours to get here. It sure was fun, and so great to see everyone!

Peas and Beets

In our garden are growing some beets and a bush of peas. I was out watering them today and thinking of my dad. Dad loved puns, and was always coming up with either really funny ones or the kind where you go... "ah, geez... (groan) that was a bad one, Dad."

I thought if Dad was visiting here now and I could take him outside to see my garden of peas and beets before he left, he'd probably say, "ok,  Jaynie; I gotta go home now, so I'll take a pee and beat it!"

Then I remembered the night he died in 1984. It was March 5 when I spent the night at his house because he was fading away and fixin on dying.  He got up from his bed to pee... he didn't want any help, and was strong enough to make it to the bathroom on his own. Then he got back in bed and beat it to the other side of the veil within the hour.  I'd never seen anything quite like that before ... or since.

I did have an old Italian guy as a patient one night when I worked Med-Surg who ate a big plate of his wife's homemade spagetti and meatballs then died 2 hours later so peacefully. But he was bedridden already and couldn't get up to pee. I just could not explain to all those family members how a guy could wolf down a huge batch of spagetti then die without going comatose for a few days at least. Maybe their local padre gave them a good explanation. I just accept that The Lord has mysterious ways.

Anyhooo... I still miss Dad. And this time every March something brings back the memories. This time it was peas and beets.

Betsy freakin Ross

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

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

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!!

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!

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.