Monday's Air

[jaminkw]

Morning All! Happy Veterans day and a big thank you to all who served or are serving our country. I keep thinking of when we lived up North. Someone would always be having a family picnic--hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni and potato salad. And don't forget the green beans with mushroom soup and onion rings on top. Would I even eat those green beans anymore lol?

Judy, a picnic on the boat sounds good. I've been wanting to fix a snack and go for a boat ride. I want to anchor out by the rockpile and watch the sunset but am not sure the vantage point is right this time of year.

Stan made an offhand comment to Wendy recently that he like to play around with the meatball recipe but he really like mine. So, today we make meatballs! I have to get up and start moving around more but the oxygen does limit me. It's killing me not to try to go without my O more but I really want to wait til the doctor gives me the go-ahead. Geez, I really don't do sick well for very long.

Hope everyone has a grand holiday.

Judy in KW

[lilyjohn]

I hope everyone has a pleasant Memorial Day. We should never forget the reason we have this day set aside. So many wars and so many who have lost their lives for our freedom.

Judy I wasn't sure I would find anyone up this early on a holiday. It is only 6:35 here. I seldom sleep later than 6am and usually am up even earlier. I guess because for most of my life I was up at 5:30 either to get my husband and kids off or to get off to work myself when I was working.

It is a beautiful morning here, a little cool but should be perfect for going for a walk. The weather here has been so different this year. I just take each day as it comes and hope that it is alright to go walk. I don't mind the light rain and love the cool temperatures. The only thing that I really have trouble with is the heat and humidity together. It got harder and harder to live with the longer I was in Louisiana.

I always think of Memorial Day as the day we would go to the grave of my sister who died before I was born. At that time she was the only one to go to. Then while in Louisiana we never did that. It was while I was away that my brothers and parents passed and were buried. They are all down in the bay area. I haven't been there but a few times over the years.

Usually we always used any holiday as a reason to bar b que. My kids still do most of the time. This year my youngest son and his family are camping and my daughter and granddaughter went to spend the day with them yesterday. All of the others were working and my oldest son was home cleaning the fish that he and a neighbor had caught the evening before. They had 150 beautiful perch. They filled a 72 quart ice chest over half way. He sent me a picture. Looking forward to having some when I go for the holidays this year.

I would probably have gone to the ceremony to honor veterans today but now I can't because the buses don't run on holidays. Just as well. It was nice having two days that nothing was really planned. Enjoy a good book and my walks and just soaking up the sun. I guess I am really getting old.

Judy I hope that you are untethered soon and that everyone finds their problems solved. Have a great day everyone.

Oh Judy I almost forgot. I don't know how many posts I have that have gone to lost post heaven both here and on Facebook. Crazy

[Joppette]

Good morning!

Well the picnic was indoors, but we still had fun. There were three tornados that touched down south of us. There was a lot of damage, but it seems minor when we compare it to Joplin. Very thankful that no one was hurt.

Now today it is sunny, but very hot and humid. I'm not even giving that a chance to make my home miserable. I closed the windows while it was still cool out, and it's still only 71 in the house. The air will kick on when it gets to 73.

Randy is outside cleaning and putting out the lawn furniture. Wow. This is so late in the year to be doing that! But the weather truly didn't make it seem attractive until now.

With it being this humid, I'll either stay inside and do cleaning and laundry, or we'll head out to the Lake Michigan lakeshore. It's just so difficult when I can't walk very far with out pain. Makes going places a challenge. I do have an appointment with the podiatrist again. There's not much he can do other than jab a shot of cortisone into the cysts again, and see if that helps with the pain.

As Gilda Radner would say, "It's always something!!!!"

I'm with you on honoring the Veterans Judy.

Lily, reading about all the things your children are doing makes me wonder if they are in Louisanna, and live far from you? It would make me sad to be alone, and living so far from my kids. I hope you have a lovely day anyway.

Judy in MI

[lilyjohn]

Yes Judy they are all in Louisiana. I moved out here 9 years ago after my divorce. I was born and raised in the Bay Area what is now known as the Silicon Valley.

I do miss a lot of things but then again I spend two months with them each year during the biggest holidays. Honestly the weather back there got to be intolerable along with some other things. Right now where I live the bus picks me up in front of my apartment building. Most of the places I go are withing walking distance on on the bus route. There are some restraints without my car but I survive.

There is no good bus system where I lived in Louisiana. Without a car I would be totally dependent on my family. It has also gotten very expensive to live there. None of the things that help me get by on Social Security are offered there. My kids often ask me when I will move back there and I tell them the truth. I honestly don't know. I guess it will be when I am no longer able to make that trip each year. I also remind them that even though holidays are usually spent together that they each have a life that is very busy. Holidays together would be great but there are 365 days in a year.

Here I have my friends that are close. I am able to do things that make me feel as if I can make a difference. I also have people who can look back and share so many memories of things I remember growing up. Even just knowing them this past few years it is still that way. Most were born or raised in California. It is a far different lifestyle here than in other places. The California most people see is the beaches and cities and all of the glitz and crazy things. Here it is so much like my valley was before electronics ruined it.

I think one thing that I have learned in the past few years is that not only was it the mountains that I missed but that sharing of childhood memories and the sense of belonging that I have felt no where else but here.

I love my family and they love me but circumstances have always left me separated from someone I love or all of them. I guess that is why when others talk about what Heaven will be like I think of it differently. Yes it will be beautiful and there will be peace and love but for me it will be a place where I can have all of my loved ones together without any of the restraints of distance or circumstances that have left pieces of my heart spread over so much of this beautiful country.

Sorry this is so long. It is just very hard sometimes to explain how things are. I am happy and content most of the time but there are those times when I ache for my family in Louisiana and my brothers and parents who have passed and my dearest Johnny who made so much of who I am and how I feel about life.

[RandyW]

you never have to apologize!!! thanks for sharing!!

[Joppette]

Lily,

Thank you for sharing your story. It touched my heart. I believe heaven will be as you describe it. Truly. And eternity is surely much longer than what you and I know to be our life times huh?

I now understand, and think you are exactly where you are supposed to be. It does no sound like a lonely life at all now that I hear the whole story.

It sounds like a life that is being lived to make a positive difference in our world, and a peaceful life too.

HUGS!

Judy in MI

[eric byrne]

Good Evening Everyone,

Its bank Holiday Monday today,most of the UK gets the day off work,TV for a change has a lot of good progs on,so will be doing a wee bit of couch potatoeing tonight.Good prog about Egypt tonight appearently a satellite has been photographing its topography and discovered huge areas of archaeology just underneath the surface of the sand,all over Egypt,so looking forward to finding out what its all about.

Weather today incidentally,showery and cool,this May hac been more like March?.Glad to be going to the USofA to dry out the feathers I have been growing,and get a bit of a sun tan.

Well tried to post in on Saturday all I could get was the Advocates home page,didnt have Buds skills to skirt around the problem I just gave up.Watched the European Cup Final from Wembly London,Man United and Barcelona,what a match,Barcelona were just wonderful to watch,Messi in particular, the guy is just superb,they won 3-1,but the difference between them belies the final score.I have never seen football of this quality since the World Cup in Mexico,when Brazil and Pele ruled the roost.Looking forward to seeing more of Barcelona next season.

Well today,back to the gym and pool,I did actually put four hours in,really trying to get fit and lose a bit more weight,42lbs would be just about right,dont think I will make this by my hols time LOL,strangely starting gym last Monday by Thursday I had lost 3lbs but by Saturday this was cut to just 1lb down?determined not to be discouraged,just cut down on the eating a bit more and up the gym effort.

Well the treadmill walking (4miles-it all the boredom I can stand)will stand me in good stead for the Noreen Davis Hikers and Bikers walk round Millport on Saturday (11 miles)yes Eric and approx 300+ women,I have died and gone to heaven methinks,we raised nearly £30,000 on that walk last year,may we do better this year.Our bus have to go round in fancy dress this year,thankfully the theme was not ballet,but Country and Western,so going into Glasgow to a fancy dress shop in Sauchiehall St, get me some cowboy gear,hopefully will include a couple of six shooters.Hope the weather will be like last year sunny and hot.Got to go my TV prog is just about to start,must acknowledge Lillian's post though,what an evocative piece of reflective writing,I so enjoyed reading it,think bits of it,hold so true for so many of us here,families being apart,memories of past times and the changes forced onto us by events in our lives,thank you Lillian.Goodnight all.

[Annette]

It was 93 degrees when I finally got us out the door to go visit mom. I spent all of 5 minutes in the room with her before she said something nasty and out I walked and told nephew to come in 15 minutes. So he and this large woman come up to me and she says she is the social worker and my mom wants to be released so we need to have a meeting regarding aftercare. I am still so angry with her that I said well lets see I work tomorrow then have to take him to and from counseling, I work Wednesday, I work Thursday and have to take him to counseling and I work Friday and one of those mornings I have to work in an x-ray - so you just go ahead and have a meeting with that mean old witch and have her call and leave a message when I have to work in picking up her mean self.

I am having a peaceful moment since the neighbor and her family are out at the pool I let the nephew go - that should tire him out.

No barbecue for me but I'm putting some stuffed pork chops in the oven. I need a vacation.

Annette

[Joppette]

Oh Annette, you DO need a vacation. You sound like you are at the end of your rope! I don't know what any of us can do to help, other than be a willing sounding board here at the boards. We care and wish we could help you honey. Truly.

Eric, I just delighted in reading your post today. The eagerness and joy that you approach life with is contagious. When you go get the cowboy gear, know this: there will be no kilts in that store. LOL! And if you want to pack that gear for the USA, you will fit right in. Especially out West and down South! I hope you are totally enjoying the show on Egypt. It sounds fascinating.

Don't get discouraged about the weight thing. As you exercise you build muscle and muscle is heavier than fat! I can recommend cutting back on the carbohydrates that you eat. My Randy has lost 35 pounds in a couple of months, and because I had to eat like him too, I've lost about 20 pounds! We just cut our carbs to 65 per meal, and 30 in two snacks a day, and the weight just fell off.

K, we went for a nice ride down lots of country roads. Too hot and humid to be out in it, but the ride was nice. Got back and was in an organizing frenzy. Got the cleaning supply closet and my scarf collection both organized in tip top order!

Judy in MI

[Bud Baker]

Good afternoon, everyone!

It was 75 degrees when I got up this morning. It's 93 now. The wind is gusting to over 30 mph, just like it seems to have been doing every day this entire spring. I've never seen a spring this consistently windy.

I went out and bought a window unit air conditioner Saturday evening. Rose and I had been threatening to get one for years. We've noticed from our occasional motel stays that we both like the steady hum of a nearby air conditioner.

Ever since the kids left, we've considered getting a window unit and programming the thermostat for the rest of the house to let it get warmer at night. With our central unit down for a few days, this seemed like a good time to try one. Saturday evening, even with doors and windows open and fans running, it was 87 degrees in my living room.

Eric, I forgot to answer your question about Lake Benbrook. Yes, it's the closest lake to me and yes, I do fish it some. But, it's a tough fishing lake with a lot of wide open water that gets really rough on windy days. I have a friend who knows it well, and I'm wanting to make some trips with him to learn it better, but it's been so windy that he hasn't been on the lake much this spring.

I decided to just take a day off fighting the wind yesterday, and Rose and I stayed home, watched tv, and zombied out. This morning, I got up and went fishing at Lake Worth. Most of the fish I caught were small, and the wind made it a battle to fish. I still enjoyed the day. Lake Worth is another close lake, and I really haven't crappie fished it much. It's easier to fish on a really windy day than most spots I know, but it would be nice to catch more.

It's back to the salt mine tomorrow. Have a great Memorial Day evening, all!