Saying good bye to a friend....

Today I went to the funeral of a friend.. Not a real close

friend, but a church friend..  She and her daughter would

come in mid service.. and stay for the second one..

When I got up to leave, I would always stop and tell her

hi, hold her hand.. as it was usually cold and mind were

warm.. She had the most beautiful smile.  I will tell her

how beautiful she looked and just pass the few words

each time. 

They use to come late for the first service, because

getting to church at 8:30am. wasn't always the easiest.

Especially when we have snow and etc.  But she would

be there... until 3 weeks ago.. then the word was passed

thru our church prayer line.  That she wasn't doing well.

And then she had passed. 

Like I said she was the sweetest lady.. What I didn't

tell you, was, that Rachael was 101 years young.

As the service went on... I thought about what Rachael

had seen in her life time.  She was raised in Hope, which

is about 20 mile east of us.. She played piano for her

church when she was just 14.  She went on to get

married, travel to several states in her time, even

Alaska. 

I wondered when she got to drive her first car? She

worked for the Singer Sewing Machine Co. during

WWII..  She did many different jobs over the years.

County assessor, here in our town.  But look at

all the things she got to see that we take for granted

in our lives now.. Cars, television, space ships, trips

to the moon, (something that she never would have

imagine as a young girl in Hope, Idaho) and of course

phones were on the wall when she was young. There

was no such thing as internet.  She truly came from

the great generation...

Good bye, Rachael, thank you for your smile that

lit up my Sundays.. and I am sure for all your friends

and family.. 

Our lives is a rerun...

I look at some of the movies they are coming

out with.. and new movies of old movies..

Which is not really new.. been done over the

years... and of course there are the part 2, 3, 4,

and etc.. and to me.. 2, 3, and etc.. never are

as good as the original.. Probably because it

is new to us.. where 2, 3, and etc. is just rehash.

Rarely does it work.

And now we are getting geared up for elections.

Actually you and I are not, it is all the ones who

think they have the magic to be President.

But I don't see any new names.  Another Bush,

and I can't believe Romney is running again.. And

then there are the rebel rousers.. the major

tea party ones.. like Ted Cruz.. and Rand Paul

whose father has ran forever.. He was like

Ralph Nadar.. always bouncing back thru...

And Rand has been making noises of running

for quite some time.. And they are already

arguing with each other.

And there is Sarah Palin.. OH MY GOSH!!NO NO

So far the Democrats are quiet..

Yes, we keep hearing about Clinton, but she

hasn't said for sure.. And Biden has said he

is thinking about it.. but not sure..

Yep, reruns.. politics, movies, shows..

Makes reading books even more interesting.

Flopping like a flag in the wind...

I have been working out on my Wii...

Did I say already, that I hate exercising?

Any way, I always figured I was a pretty

stable person.. That I can stand and be

real still.. Well, I guess I can't.. As one

of the exercise is to hold really still

while they check your bmi..and weight.

I even closed my eyes to see if I could

hold still.. well, that was worse yet. And

then when the machine registered my

attempt at standing still.. well the little

red dot was flopping like a flag in the wind.

And then one of the exercise is standing

on one foot.. They do tell you, if you are

unsteady to hang on to a chair or someone.

I thought I had good balance.. and good

strong legs.. what a joke that is... my

ankles act like they are made of wet

noodles... (trainer, oh, did you fall off

of the pad?)

Yes, I really do hate exercising.. yoga

and strength type.. And the trainer

is a liar...keeps telling me how well

I am doing, and then hits me with a

low score... Also a smart ass.. I gain

a couple pounds over the weekend..

Bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed jalapenos

are my down fall.. and she told me.. well

we aren't going to meet our goal are we?

We?  Can't wait for the

weather to get better, so I can walk.

Now that I can get into.. 

Computers, Internet, web sites and etc....

As we have learn over the past, almost 30 years.. there

is good and there is bad to computers and being on

line..

Families have been reunited.  Some who were separated

when they were born or really young.. find their way back

in their 50's and up to their 80's.. Friends find each other.

Even on Facebook, many childhood friends have been

reunited.

The information out there is astounding.  Be it a recipe,

or history, how to make something, be it knitting or

boxes, build a house, a bed, plant flowers, you name

it.. there is a site to tell you how.. There is a You-tube

to show you how..

But like any other pendulum, there is the other side..

The how to make a bomb, to bully someone else.

And the others is opening up the world like an egg.

We see so much horror.. and our enemies can see

us at our best and worse.. And use the worse against

us..

With the internet being an open book.. people

sharing so much.. and the government sharing

way too much.. we are open for all kinds of

bad things..

Throwing what I call the WWII phase out the

window...:Lost lips sink ships..... 

We see terrorist who use the internet to their

whims... and see men on their knees in orange,

waiting to see if the terrorist is going to lop off

his head... some even showing that.  Luckily

some media companies show restraint and

decency not to show us.  This week it is two

Japanese men who were being shown... and

I have to ask myself...

Is internet worth it?

Trying to understand....

20/20 had a program about parents.. about 4 difference ones, I think.

One of which was about a couple.. the father...started out life as a girl. The mother...started out life as a boy.  Thru their years of growing up they knew they were different. They didn't feel comfortable in their own skin.. As adults.. they made the change to fit their mind set. Their emotions.   And as it would turn out, they found each other... So now

the boy is a beautiful young woman... the girl is now a handsome young man.  But to add to this.. the girl/husband kept her internal organs as nature gave them to her.. and as a man/husband.. they had a baby.

In fact they have two children..   Some day they will have to explain to those children.... and hopefully people will be kind and let the parents explain.  Why they came forward on national television I don't know.. because you know the nature of humans is not always kind.

And this week.. on the television show called Glee, one of the actors is going to come forward with a story about transgender. The actor is a woman.. she plays the football coach.. or maybe it is just a coach of all sports at the high school... Basically they are going to walk the audience thru the process that this coach is going to go thru.

Two of her fellow employee's support her decision.  
This is profound, that the networks are going to go with this.. because this story line would never have made the surface in the 40's thru to even the 90's.

But this is the 2000's... and we are becoming more tolerable and trying to understand. After all, these are human beings with feelings. No matter how or what you feel, about them.. the bottom line is they are people... who feel like you and I about other things. And want to come to face what their sexual feelings are.   As the actor said to explain.. "this is not who I want to go to bed with.. it is how I want to go to bed as."..

These feelings ring a familiar note to me.. As I have a family member who is fighting this fight herself.(a granddaughter). As I understand it.. she has wanted to be a man for quite some time.

As an almost 75 year old woman... who was raised in the world that a man is a man and a woman is a woman... not even knowing about lesbians until in my late teens.. this is an adjustment for me... especially for transgenders...   Now gays, I have gotten use to, met some fantastic

gay people in my adult time.  And then had two daughters, come out as gays in the past 15 years or so.  I adjusted to it.. and accept it and if they are happy, that is my main concern.   But I will tell you.. it hasn't been easy... as it seems that I adjusted better to knowing they are gay, then they adjust to me accepting it.

Trying to adjust to all of this, has not been an easy one.. In fact the latest one, the transgender, has denounced me.. because I didn't understand.  When she found out that I didn't understand, and even though told I was trying... she loudly told me.. there is nothing to understand.. and get over myself... and then wanted no more to do with me...   I guess those who are transgending have a hard time with those who are not quite up to par with it.  But I tried to explain, I was dancing as fast as I could.. meaning I was trying.. it went on deaf ears...  To what will probably mean for the rest of my life.

So maybe we all should watch Glee, maybe they can make it easier on those of our age.. where we never knew of such things happening. Barely knowing about gay people.

And for the record, I have never ever put any of them down, made fun of them, .. I have always been respectful, even when I didn't understand. 

Phase one...

I mention the first of the month that I was going

to make some changes.. Started off with what

I decided to do with my hair...So today, I started

phase one... phase two is in two weeks..

Right now it doesn't look like much.. It is a Mohawk

of curls with straight sides.. And it is fuzzy curly right

now.. It should relax in about a week, and the sides

should calm down some.. and then we will be ready

for the next part of this hair do... so far I like it..

Hope that continues.. lol  Worse that can happen

is, I can wear a hat for 3 months. 

this is my natural color of hair.... boy what a serious

face...

You don't have to be a football fan....

We were sitting around the table eating dinner with

friends by 1:30 pm.. on  Sunday...  with the Seahawk

and the Green Bay Packers playing in the background.

None of us are real big football fans.. might say

occasional fans.  No real big favorite team.

But as an Northwest resident, we lean toward

the Seahawk.. but mostly just like a good close

game.

After dinner we started to play a game called

Mexican train. With a few remarks about the

team.  Me, talking about our neighbor's son,

who lives in Colorado, who is a die in the

wool Green Bay Packer fan... and how he must

be in his glory and rubbing it in to his Seahawks

friends... and others who must be greatly

disappointed in their Seahawks going down.

After a few games of the Mexican train, we

were checking again on the score.. had been

16 to 0, last time we check.. thinking maybe

the 3rd quarter..now the ending of the 4th quarter

and remarking like it was as good as over for the

Seahawks, when all of a sudden the Seahawks

made a touch down.

But knowing it was a long way to catching up.

Next time we see the score 19 to 22.. and then

22 to 22 and over time.. AMAZING, as they had

done this in 3 minutes. 

Our game stopped as we watched the game on

the television that just got to be really interesting..

and then it came to an big bang up end..

The announcer yelling THE SEAHAWKS ARE

GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!THE SEAHAWKS

ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!! THE

SEAHAWKS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!

Our little  group went from a little amusement at

the game, to wow, they are gaining. Holy cow they

have a chance to ...THEY WON..  and this is

from 4 occasional football watchers and one

"I don't like football and the Super bowl is a

waste of time", guy.   All a sudden my husband

the one who doesn't like football, became a

expert on the game... and how Green Bay

gave it away...  He thought about calling the

neighbors son, to rub it in.. but thought, he

is probably in too much misery to pick on...

So you don't have to be a real football fan

to enjoy a good game.

Now the Patriots and the Colts was a bore,

and we quickly abandon the game, with a

game of 45 to 7.. well, it just didn't measure

up.    

Remembering yourself....

http://seniors.littlethings.com/alzheimers-alive-inside/?utm_content=buffer59506&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_source=sungazing&utm_campaign=PFPost

For all my friends. Please watch this... 

this is what I miss about work..

to all my fellow nursing home workers.. be you aides or nurses... this will bring back memories and tears... We had the EDEN project at MountainSide...(the healthcare center where I worked)  it was wonderful..it was plants, animals 

and music... because you see .. when you get to

this stage of life.. without music, what you will miss most of all.. is yourself.. music brings that back.

For those of you who never worked in a nursing home, 

health care center... or have had a grandparent or even 

your parents, who has Alzheimer's or dementia of any kind..  Even a stroke that effect the speech...    you really need to watch this.

For there for the grace of God, goes us..

Body, don't quit me now..

Well, I did it.. I got the old Wii out and put the

exercise one in...all the batteries were dead.

A mere side step.. Got it all up and ready to go.

Pretty bad when the machine tells you "Hi" and then

says, 'WOW, we haven't see you in 433 days!!'...

And when you weigh in, it tells you.. "oh, I guess you

haven't met your goal, have you?".. And tells me that

I am 15 pounds more than I was last time, over a

year ago... damn machine..

Then it told me, after 2 exercise, that I was in pretty

good shape for my age.. and told me I had a body of

a 57 year old.. I wondered what 57 year old that was..

Because they are in bad shape...

So after the down faced reality of being obese..

and my bmi was way high.. I decided maybe I

better do something about it..  As motivation is

not my high point. 

Didn't want to over do.. so went for 20 minutes

of Yoga...  some times it was down right

embarrassing.. and some times I kind of.. well

a little, held my own.  Making it worse was

showing my old numbers... it was down right

embarrassing..  I did better with both feet on

the floor...

So I have decided... come 6:30 am. It is up and

at them... yes, body.. I said 6:30 A.M.

You know it might not be so bad.. as it did

bring back the old feeling of doing it last time

and it was kind of fun..... well, as fun as exercise

can get..

So going to do stretching and then add to that.

Should have me in fair shape by the time the

weather lets me go back to my walking route

I did last summer..

It will be fun, I said... to myself.. sure it will be..

And this year is about fun...  So Mari, get your

self in shape.. we are walking Tubbs Hill again.

Are you up for it? maybe first part of June... lol..  

1998

The magazine I am reading now are in the 1998 time.

It is the wind down of Clinton President time. But

they are still having articles about him and Monica.

I have found it is taking me longer to read the magazines

now, than when I first got them 17 years ago.  One part

I guess, is because I am more in tune with events and

especially political.  And George, of course, being

published by John Kennedy Jr. is political based.

Also it seems to be of interest is mafia. But then I

guess mafia does follow politics.  Also there is the

murder of two rap singers...

The ads are kind of neat to see and read.. surprisingly

the cigarette ads are still going. I had thought they

did away with them 20 years or more ago. Also

full of the 20 something(young adults) ads of clothing,

perfumes and etc. Luckily the smell flaps is almost dead.

It is also kind of fun, to have them talk about things what

are now different...like cell phones, and cars, of course,

that have moved so far forward. 

I am enjoying the magazines.. and sure the person I

am forwarding them to, will also enjoy a brief step in

the past. 

Reading...the old stories..

As I go thru these George magazine, I will probably address

some of the stories in my blog. As I read them. This one is,

1998, it makes me wonder.. what happen to ?  And are the

stories of then .. did they or would they change history course.

Case in point, one of the articles is about one man named

John Kasich. Which in the year of 1998, was well thought of..

A politician who seem to have it all.. One who could work with

both sides of the aisle. He, himself, a Republican.. a Teddy

Roosevelt type politician you might say.   According to the

article .. he had everything. He was for the working man. He

was against big government, he was able to pull off a great

budget when Clinton was in there.. by working both sides

together..  Reading it, there was things I liked about this

guy and things I didn't like.. So what happen, when he started

thinking about being President? As I don't remember him

at all.. Well, one thing is.. he was not for the big corporations,

and then at the end when he is putting out feelers in Iowa,

to see if it is possible.. I read that they are telling him, he

had to have 20 million to get a good start. Not an easy

achievement for a Senator from Ohio... and especially and

this is where I get the I know the way it turns out because

this is 2015... because I remember Bush jr. walking into

Iowa with a 60 million in his coffers from his daddy's friends. I

remember it, because I remember my feelings when I read

that in the papers at the time... my feeling was, yup, this

is going to be an election of money.. the candidate with the

most money will buy the slot.  And it did.. not once but twice.

The other articles were pictures of the train going from

New York to Washington DC with Robert Kennedy's

coffin aboard, and the people who lined the tracks in 1968.

Very much like Lincoln and Roosevelt.

The top 10 ban books from 1929 to 1998.. most I never

heard of and wonder if they are still on a ban list. And then

there are the top 20 fascinating men in politics. Which was

surprising..  Clinton and Annan of course, but Sherman Alexie

who I do like, Julian Bond, Sidney Blumenthal, Terry Lenzner,

Joe Cubas and Gary Bauer to name a few.. where are they

now?

GEORGE

It is getting the time of the year when you start

to get overloaded with your  "STUFF".

One place that gets an overload is under my

desk. Which has some stuff, I haul out each time,

with the idea of getting rid of it. 

After all I have learned that my life is a yard

sale, 2 days after I am buried... or in my case,

my ashes blown to the wind..

3 times I have told myself, I am going to get rid

of these.. but each time as I sit on the floor, looking

thru... I see there is history here, articles of history.

Not big time history, but time that I have lived thru.

These items are 14 to 17 years old.   By now, you

know I am talking about the magazine ...GEORGE.

I also have some Time and Life to go thru as well.

Ones that I have saved because they have articles

of great stories at the time..  The death of Johnny

Kennedy Jr. The death of Princess Diane, the

death of Jackie O... and a few other people who

didn't die at the time the magazine had an article

about them.

But this is the year.. And George is going to be

the first one to go..  I have them all out. About

20 of them.. I have the first and I have the last.

The others are mostly 1999.  I don't have them

all... if I did, I could have e-bay'd them.. for money,

I suppose..   But I do have a friend, who I thought

may like to read them.. as he likes history too. So

as I go thru them, I will take two and send them to

him, until he has them all. Starting this week.

The articles are neat, as some of the issues, I

know how them came out.  Some of them are

almost as active today as they were then.. And

then there is the commercial ads..

But this is my goal for January... to get these

magazine read... and then forward to him,

who can also read and appreciate them.   

Did I sign up for this?

I was sitting at home, minding my own business..

It was January 2, and my desire of exercising wasn't

working out to well.  So I said.. (stupidly).. Lord, I

wanted to do better at exercising...I just can't get

motivated.. I sure could use your help..

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR...

Because BINGO, there I was on Monday, a mere

3 days later.. with more exercising than I wanted,

but I don't remember signing up for shoveling

for exercise.

And then Tuesday... we were getting concern as

the snow wasn't sliding off one of our large sheds.

Which was preventing the snow to fall off that

side of the garage.  So we got out the ladders and

snow rake.  As the King was pulling off snow, I

decided to go around the garage and come up

along side of the other end. Which meant walking

thru virgin snow.. 2 feet of it.. high..

What makes this a little harder, is that my legs are

only 28 inches long. So it was like doing high steps

as I pulled my leg out of the last hole.. But trudge

on, I did... sometimes losing my balance like a

teeter totter style steps...regaining it again. With

a couple of sit downs in the process.  To make

it worse, I had to make 3 trips back and forth.

You would think I would have broke trail by that

time.

After helping the King move ladders, and handing

up the rake.. and getting a bucket for salt and

a cup to throw it with.  After about half an hour

of moving back and forth with the ladder, we

were done.

After my wonder strides of the other trips, I

decide to go over the fence instead, like the

King came over. I was doing well, on the climbing

of the ladder, but once I stepped across and

on to the clump of snow... which I thought I

could hold me... it did not... my legs went

straight thru... past my legs.. I am stuck.

So what to do? I tried to pull my leg out,

and couldn't..... so I thought about quick

sand... they say lay down and roll... sounded

good to me..  Only trouble, when I tried to

roll, my foot got caught on the fence and

I kicked it loose ...to only have my body

go flying down the snow bank. Of which

I heard the sound of laughter.. from the

King.  Aisle clean up...on ... which I finish

for him.... FAT LADY DOWN.. which

sent us both into laughter fits. There was

no way to recover my footing, so had to

crawl the rest of the way down and then

stood up with what little dignity I had left.

With the King hanging on to his ladder,

trying not to fall off from laughing. 

Lord, are you sure this is what I signed up for? 

This is a new year, and I am going to have fun...

This is the beginning of 2015...

2015... I turn 75 this year.. not until April..but..

I am going to have fun.. I am tired of playing it

safe.  I am going to do some stuff that is wild and fun.

I won't care if others understand or not.. And at

the risk of being said, that I am losing my mind...

But believe me I am not losing my mind.. I am

reclaiming it..

Tired of being the proper grandmother, the proper

mom, the proper wife... or what ever else...

It wouldn't be anything illegal.. it won't be anything

that will hurt others.. unless being embarrassed

by being with me.. counts..

Haven't totally decided what I am going to do.. have

an idea or two.. but going to play it by ear.. as it comes.

That is fair warning.. lol..

And I plan on doing a lot of dancing this year.. and hell 
and be damn who doesn't like it... as I won't notice..as I will be the one dancing..

What a difference a day makes...

going in for dry and warm clothes so he could do the neighbors ....

raking snow off the green house

These pictures are about 4 days apart...

The king went from playing on his snowmobile that

he just sold, with out a jacket on Saturday...

To being bundled up, walking behind the snow blower

or riding his 4 wheeler up and down the driveway.

It took over an hour to move the 12 inches of snow

from our driveway.. First with the 4 wheeler and then

when it was to heavy to push... he used the snow

blower to throw it further. 

Then came in, had a cup of coffee, changed to warm

dry clothes, went back out and did the neighbors on

each side.. as best as he could.. considering how

heavy it was.. but at least had parking places for them.

How Fast... are you?

How fast do you dismantle Christmas and put it away?

I start usually the day after Christmas... but this year I

am doing it slower as we are entertaining some.

It was all gone for another year by the

2nd of 2015. The day before New Years Eve.. the inside was

half packed away.

So how about you? When do you have it all packed away?

I know some who leave theirs up until March 1st.  And

some leave a little bit up year around..

I usually leave the lights on the fence and house, year around.

Makes a great way to direct people to your house that never

been there before.. "I will turn on the Christmas lights on

for you, so you can tell which house is ours".  Also I have a

flag that is on the gate.. so turn that on in July for the 4th.

January 1, 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR..

Guess the question we have to ask ourselves, is...

Am I where I want to be at this time next year?

You have a whole year, to plan something.. do something

change something.. meet someone... visit someone...

What have you done since the first day of 2014 to now?

Any regrets?

Is that all you want out of life?

Well, here is 2015... think about it.. what would you like

to do?

So hoping you don't have much of a hangover... and mellowing

out watching football... and going back to work on Monday.

What do you want to do. no resolutions.. they are worthless..

You don't have to be old to make a bucket list, for the year.

Start small..