Birthday

Been celebrating my birthday the last few days. I actually had fun.

Started on friday with lunch at the college caf with Naomi. Good food and great conversation.

Then to Abilene for meds. After going for several years without insurance and never medicine insurance, what a joy to be covered!!! I got 2 scripts that usually come to over $300, I only paid a little over $30. Our country is soo backward. We are the only civilised country without health care for all. And then we wonder why our health care is so crappy compared to other countries.

Friday nite Sally, Paul, Rashea, Chad, and Bill took me to Jalisco’s for supper. And they just HAD to tell them it was my birthday. I HAD to wear a sombrero and they sang to me n spanish. With lots of photos.Was fun!!!

While there Tonio and Ramona’s sons, Tony, posted a new photo of himself. I had to show them. She just beamed. Nice to see. He lives far away. Then they posed for a photo of me to send to him. He wrote something very nice back. I showed them and she glowed. They work at Jalisco’s and Tony used to. Nice friends.

Saturday noon I lunched again with another friend in town. I so enjoy her company. Very fun.

I got several cards and over 60 messages on FaceBook. Amazing. And chatted with several friends.

I worked both days this weekend. Quiet both days. Fun to have my boss in yesterday. Today my grandson came in to see me. Had a nice chat. Having lunch later in the week. And I get to meet his girlfriend and her child. Should be cool.

Weather has warmed up. Chances for rain this week. Believe it when I see it.

A Day at Mokas

I met a friend at Mokas in Salina today. It was amazing!! We sat and chatted for 5 hours!! *5 hours* Yikes!! What we did not talk about!! I shared a few feelings and as a result I have come to some conclusions and decisions about myself. Time to for changes and help. It is a good thing.

While at Mokas, I saw someone I used to work with. We were so close then. I have always missed her. I tried to stay in touch but it did not work. We we had a nice chat. And I gave her my cell number and email. I hope she contacts me. I would love to have her back in my life. We were the 2 redheads in our department!!! What fun we had.

Then my old eye doctor and his wife came in. I miss seeing him! Had a nice visit with them. He is enjoying his retirement. I am glad. She looked great!! Nice lady. Always wished we were closer. Probably too late now. A shame.

Them my cousin came in. Had not seen her in many weeks. We both have been too busy. We had a great visit.

At home it was sunny when I went to town. As I drove there I saw a bank of clouds. When I got near Salina, it got cloudy. At the city limits, it started to snow. Very light. It snowed all afternoon. Nothing stuck. But sitting in Mokas, facing the window, feeling very unSalina-like, seeing the snow, was so nice. Anytime I can feel unSalina-like is good. Nice, peaceful feelings.

At home, Willie sounds somewhat better. I have been quite scared he was getting pneumonia. Still might. His cough is still awful. I hope he gets better. If only he could rest for a couple of days. What a difference that would make. But he cannot rest at all. Too much work and no one for back up. It is what it is. My new favourite term. Words to live by. At least for me.

New Years & More

New Years was a bust here. Last saturday we went to our nephew’s for a party. It was fun, mostly. Most everyone there are friends or family with each other and I do not fit in. But there were several there who were friendly. Always thankful for them.

On New Years we had snow. All totaled at least 4″. A beautiful, soft, wet snow with no wind. Need tons more. We ended the year -13.49″ short. We are listed in an extreme drought.

Willie is really sick again. His cold came back. He sounds horrible. Has to feed and water the cattle. And then go back to make sure the water does not refreeze. He should not be working but he has no choice. I am scared he will get really sick. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I was soo emotionally low over New Years. I slept late, took an afternoon nap and an evening nap. Not healthy. I think it is time for more than just meds. I cannot handle this alone and there is no one who can or wants to help me. Hard to admit this but it is what it is.

Last sunday I finally celebrated Christmas with my son and granddaughter. Willie was too sick and too busy to go. My grandson works weekends so he was asleep. My brother went with me. Granddaughter Ava was pretty cute. She is always the center of attention. She has a new puppy named Dewey. He is adorable. Had a good time.

Today I am out and about. Took myself to lunch at Jalisco’s. Then off to Wichita. I had my glasses tightened up. Got tired of them falling off my face. Then to Sephoras. Spent way too much but that is ok. This weekend I deserve something extra. Went to Best Buy and got an internet hookup for my ipad. Cannot remember what it is called.

Now at the airport to pick a friend up. His flight was due at 549pm. Ha. Now 658pm. It says delayed and nothing more. Nice. I got really shaky so I ate here. Hope that holds me until home.

People deplaning again. And there he is! On his flight was a Bethany College student. My friend works there. This student got on a plane at 6am in Kosovo. Looong day for him. We will take him home with us so he does not have to wait for 2 hrs. for the bus from the college. Then we saw another Bethany student from Oregon. Offered him a ride also. He gave me a huge hug, wished me a great new year, and thanked me. It is pretty rare that I get hugged so he made my day. The two boys were really talking away in the car when it suddenly got quiet. Both fell asleep!!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Long weekend…..

I somehow survived the Christmas weekend. It is always hard for me. Mom died on 4 years ago on Christmas Eve with no warning. But I only cried once.

On Christmas Eve we always go our nephew’s house. Lots of family, mostly theirs. Nice that they include us. His uncle was there are fixed tons of food. His salmon and dill sauce is to die for. This year he did Swedish meatballs with orange and lingonberry sauce. Awesome!! I brought potato sausage. I could eat it every day.

Christmas Day we were supposed to go to our son’s but the weather forecast for them was awful. So I called and cancelled. Then it did nothing. What a bummer. I did cry that nite. Willie could not have gone with us anyway. He has to haul water to our cattle and the keep making sure it is not frozen over. He has got to be exhausted. When it is warmer we will try again.

I skipped going to the Annandag Jul church service this year. My emotions aretoo shaky. My brother and I did eat at Jalisco’s. Always good food. Nice to see everyone there. Hard to eat anywhere else. All the staff are friends and treat me really special. Nice. That does not happen often in my life. Actually, almost never.

I know of 4 kids who were sick on Christmas. That is not fun. One even had minor surgery. He had such a sad face. Now today 2 friends has either a cold or the flu. So far I am ok. So far.

As I said earlier, the drought is now called ‘extreme’. Our ponds are dry. Not so bad when you can just haul water in but when it freezes quickly, makes for lots of work. I worry about Willie. He is just too old to work so hard. It is a constant worry for me. No wonder I am stressed all the time. And we have no one to help and no backup. In a crisis, there are friends who can help but we cannot expect that on a daily basis. Wish I knew why our family is so broken. I have asked but I only get lies from all involved.

It has been sooo cold. Down in the single digits. Snow all around usbut we cannot get a drop of rain or a flake of snow. If we do not get some moisture, our wheat will not survive. We sold some cattle and did not replace them. No water and no food. I have never seen so many farmers bale their wheat straw this year. It has no nutrition so we have to pour molasses on it. Then the cows like it.

Am at Mokas in Salina meeting friends for coffee. I love it. It truly seems like I am not anywhere near Salina. That is always a plus. Wish I could run away for a while. No chance now for a while. Back to Denver soon, I hope.

Jury duty

Jury duty. A post for those who have never served. If called in, you get paid. For those who live in town, it is $10. I have to drive in so I get mileage. I was paid $26.50 for my trouble.

To get to the courtroom we had to go through lots of security. NO cellphones, no camera, no guns. One had to empty their pockets. They searched my purse thoroughly. I had to walk through metal detectors. Then they scanned my body.

We were seated up in the jury area. The judge asked us questions. Then each lawyer. We took a short break while they deleted enough of us until 12 remained. I was sooo lucky to be chosen. Ha. If you actually serve on a jury, you get $20 more. I did ok.

The case was a DUI. It was very interesting. I think we all thought it was and open and shut case. We were wrong. The prosecutor started. His witness was the arresting officer. As he testified, he said something that I knew for sure was not true. It was about an intersection in town. And the prosecutor was also clueless.

Then it was lunch time. Not enough time to go to far. Had a less than satisfying lunch but enough I did not have to worry about my blood sugar.

Back in court, the defense attorney proved he had prepared well. He called out the officer on the intersection. We watched a video of the arrest. Then the defendant testified. We got our orders and went to deliberate.

We watched the video a second time. The officer said the defendant was weaving as he drove, his speech was slurred, he could not walk but staggered. Well. None of that was true. He did admit he had had a couple of beers.

The defendant does not have to prove his innocence. He is considered innocent.The prosecution did not prove in anyway that he was too drunk to drive. Nor did they prove he was sober either. We could not convict. A couple wanted to but we talked and talked. I was glad with our verdict.

It was a long long day. Had to be in court around 830am. Got out of court around 4pm or a bit later. Then groceries. Was glad to get home.

Tuesday & Wednesday

 

It has really been cold. When it is in the teens at nite it makes for great sleeping! But really hard to crawl out in the morning!

Tuesday I went with a friend to Salina have coffee at a wonderful place called Mokas. It is a coffee shop plus sandwiches & sinfully, to die for desserts. I treated myself to some cherry cheesecake. Mmmmm! Nice to feel like I am nowhere near Kansas.

 

We had a great visit. Long overdue. I have felt rather abandoned lately. One friend I saw often, I never see anymore. Changed jobs. Another group I am part of have not been able to get together. A while back a friend moved away, far away. Another just moved but not far. And yet another is threatening to move. So far, still here. So today was a treat. We laughed and we almost cried.

At Mokas they were playing lots of Christmas music. It made me melancholy. Things are just not good. And I look to the future & see only worse things. I am thinking it may be time to do more than just meds. After the holidays, therapy will be considered. Probably needed.

Wednesday was a good day. I started day at the library. Fun to be there to chat with friends. Then I went to McPherson to eat at La Fiesta. Good eats there. And the help was nice. A good friend cooks there and I had a gift for him. He managed a short break. He seemed to like it. I hope so.

 

Had my last acupuncture appt with my doc. Next month I go to a new one in Salina. Hope I like her.

Today I was gone all day for jury duty. I will write about it tomorrow.