Words on sorrow.. when they say.. LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH

Words on sorrow..  when they say.. LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH

 This is a rough time of the year for many.. some hide.. some take a way out that is so mind blowing for the rest of us.  Some of us don’t see it coming..  some of us worry about our love ones.. be they a friend or family..  and yet can’t find the magic words to say..  to keep the person thinking that their lives are such a black hole, they can’t take it anymore. 

We had a family member.. who did on the 7^th of December. Don’t know if she was thinking about how she could not face Christmas, even tho it was one of her favorites in the past years..  We knew she was fragile.  She had been fragile before.  She had a wonderful boyfriend, who was by her side 99% of the time.   Yet, she found a way to divert him, and did the deed…  to our horror..   And she left a note…  with the words above…  LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH..  How can you fight that?

So even those were her words, I pray that your love one.. that Love IS enough..  and you can help..

If the worse happens.. there are groups to help you..  Find them..  because you will never understand and they can help you try.   Google the suicide line.. in your area.

LONG DAY IN THE KITCHEN…

LONG DAY IN THE KITCHEN…

Up and at them.. early 0 hour… well for me.. at least. See in the winter I sleep in..  because I am a daylight person..  So when the sun is up at 5am. in the summer… I am up at 5am.  When it is up at 7:15am in the winter…  I am .. yep, up at 7:15 or so.. some times 7:30 if it is overcast and the sun is not coming thru my window.. The bed is too warm to leave before that.. and nothing is hurting on my body.

So to be up at 6am.. yesterday morning… quick breakfast.. and I was ready to go.. Had all the bowls out, and all the measuring cups from 1 cup to 8 cups..  I had the cookie sheets and the wire racks.. All out the night before..  I got the bowls in a row..  and started to put ingredient in them… and then to my HORROR… I saw I did NOT have enough brown sugar.   So called the King (he is up at 5am and with his cronies at the HOOT OWL.)….I asked him to pick up 4 bags..  he got me 5.. that is ok..  Any way.. got the ingredient in each of the bowls.  Not enough nuts for all 3.. which is fine.. as I try not to put nuts in all of my cookies. For those who are allergic.

So with breakfast and ingredient ready to go..  I was spoon  in hand at 8am.. Spooning dough out on to the cookie sheets.  I have 6 cookie sheets..  and by 8:30… first one in..

By 1pm I was all done with all of the sheets and cooked and cookies on the wire racks.

By 3pm all were cool enough to bag. 10 to a bag. Well, I started out with 12.. but when I noticed one of them was 2 short because my tester husband took 2..  so figured… ok. 10 is a good number.

Had them all bagged by 4. And out in the refrigerator in the garage. (a little out of range for my tester husband to get) As  there were a few tinged at the edges.. which became the Testers..  lol..

At 5pm..I was fixing dinner and eating..  by 6.. I had the breads back in the house from the garage.. and wrapped them in wrapping… as I didn’t like how the foil fit around them..  By 7pm, I had the pans all washed, and placed outside in the cupboards in the garage.  And the kitchen back to normal..  what ever normal is..   That is the longest I have been in a kitchen.. since.. well, I don’t remember.. Since retiring… and then the King retired.. and he loves to cook, I don’t do much but prep work for him.  BUT I AM DONE..

I use to do breads, cookies, candy and one time did jalapeno jam.   And we gave it all away in baskets for gifts..  But we don’t do that anymore.. for one thing.. a lot of the receivers have passed away..

But at least I got it done.. until next year..

Wizard of Oz

Wizard of Oz

My thoughts of late have been on the song in Wizard of Oz.

It is the one where the scarecrow sings..  I WISH I HAD A BRAIN…   Because mine seems to go on vacation from time to time..  use to say..  a  SENIOR MOMENT.. but that is too short of a time for this.  

But I got to admit.. I pass what I have now called Dementia Test..  that is where you sit so nice in your house, writing out a list of stuff you need from the store…   and THEN YOU FORGET IT ON THE COUNTER…   and you don’t discovery this … until you are entering the store.  No, you don’t want to drive home and get it..  So you trudge thru and try to remember what it was on the list.  Closing your eyes and trying to imagine what you see of what you wrote, does not help at all.     And I hate going up and down the aisle trying to see what seems familiar of what you are missing at home.    But I went to the store .. and I searched all of my pockets.. (vest has 4 and jacket has two) NO LIST..   I remember the main thing I wanted as I had just wrote it down before I left.  The others were from a day or two before..   But I AM SOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF MYSELF… I aced it.  I got all 5 items.. (what did you think I was a genius and remember 20? Come on .) At 84.. 5 is good. 

Well, heading in the kitchen to make cookies this am.. Christmas cookies that the King loves..  when I make a big batch.. I have to freeze ¾ of them .. or we will binge eat them..   that is why I only make them once a year..  ok. I am off..  humming  Oh, if only I had a brain……

My heart just doesn’t seem to be in it…

My heart just doesn’t seem to be in it…

Each year, for years..  this is the time I start making my Choc. Zucchini Bread..   Last year I did maybe about 8 of them…. usually to about 20..  And this year.. I really don’t have my heart into it..  Hoping when I start, I will get into the mood.. But it is the getting started.. 

Actually I am having a hard time getting my heart into anything…  Got the Christmas stuff out..  looked thru it..  hung the King’s flat tree on the wall next to his chair.. put the rest of it back in the tote and put it in the back room with the other one.. I have got it down to 2 totes.  We don’t do a regular tree.. no room.. Found the flat wall tree a few years ago.. It serves the purpose..  when it is over, just roll it up and put it away until next year.

Anyway, figured I would give the chore to the GGboys.. when they come over Wed.  Did it with one last year.. he did a pretty good job. So hoping they will do well, and not fight over it..  There is no such thing about it not going any particular place.. Just let his ideas flow..  So God only knows where the stuff will end up at..   Will show pictures next week.

 

 

This and That…

This and That…

Well, here we go… closing in on 2025.. ending another year…  or as I use to say..  Another year shot to hell..  lets see how we do with the next one. 

Already told you, I thought this year was on maxi speed. 

While we are about 4 weeks to 2025..  we still have time for things to happen in this world..

There are many changes over seas..  Lets hope peace on earth is one of them.

I have decided ..  I don’t like going for drives any more.  Over the weekend we traveled to Spokane.  Now normally that isn’t a big deal. We went what we would think is the back way.. thru Newport, WA.. down highway 2.. to Spokane.   We have done this many times, just not in the past 4 or 5 years.  It seem like it was FOREVER.. We had traveled for at least an hour… and I finally said.. Boy, I don’t remember this road being so long…  And the King replied… I was just thinking the same thing..  I was thinking how I was beginning to think like a kid.  ARE WE THERE YET?  ARE WE THERE YET?   When we left for home we took one of the other routes we normally take. And it did seem faster..  but it still was a long time.. So about 2 hours each way… with dinner on the way home.  So we were going for over 4 hours.. And the dog was not happy..  I think she thought we deserted her.  As this is the longest we have been gone. Guess I am just getting old.

Oh, and it was for nothing..  We found out the chair the King was thinking about getting.. was really nice.. but the price sure wasn’t..  so we came home empty handed.. Oh well, it was a ride with my sweet guy, who gets very upset with Washington drivers… lol.. and we got lost.. so had to stop for directions.. and of course we had traveled about 18 miles the wrong way…  Oh, road trips… I think I will pass.

 

 

wishing you all a wonderful day

 Here we are.. approaching Thanksgiving Day... 

Tomorrow and maybe today..  I will get ahead start on prep work.. I am the prep cook.. meaning I will be cutting and chopping the onions and celery for the King.  Then there is the celery... to chop at just the right length and put the cheese we have bought in each one. We have about 4 choices..   We will have the usual... green bean casserole, Yam's with marshmallows.. dressing, gravy and of course TURKEY.. along with the side dishes of pickles and olives and coming is devil eggs,  pies, Hawaiian buns,  So I guess I better get started on some of my prep work.... as tomorrow afternoon is GGboys time.. and not much gets done then..  lol.. 

SO OUR HOUSE... WISHES YOU ALL A GREAT DAY.. WITH WONDERFUL FOOD, AND GREAT FAMILY AND FRIENDS CONVERSATIONS..  Make memories.. AND TAKE PICTURES.. 20 years from now, when all the children are adults..  they will see those pictures and remember all of us who have gone ahead...   

GOD BLESS... 

To rake or not to rake

To rake or not to rake

That is the question…   do you rake your leaves or do you leave them on the ground?

I had an old friend..Harold McWilliams, better know to all who knew him….  “Mac the Packer”  who passed away at the age of 95. He was a Leanin Tree looking old western guy.  He packed for the government mostly in Washington State.  He was an old salt.. kind of guy who did not brag … well, rarely bragged.

He sure knew the lay of the land in middle of Washington State. 40+years of packing for the Forest Dept. And knew Mother Nature very, very well…   Later in life he was about 80+ and he was running the garbage/recycle for Kittitas County.. 

As he was sitting there waiting for someone to come up to dump their garbage.. he saw several young men get out of a truck with rakes.  And the went under the trees that were across the driveway from the station.  It peeked his curiosity.  So he walked over and talked to them to see why they were raking the leaves in to piles.. and then load them in to bags..  They explain they were from the local college and they were there to take the leaves away from the trees, so they don’t rot.  The leaves that is.. which would rot the trees.   Mac, a man of few words,  said… REALLY.  What makes you think that?   They gave him a 15 minute or so of reasons for all of it.. fires… rotting of trees and so much more.   He told them, he had packed for the Forest Dept. for 40 years and never seen any one rake the leaves around the forest floor before.. 

And Mother Nature never blew them away…

They looked him, like he was the old man that he was.. and his old fashion thoughts.. And told him this was the new science.  So Mac started to walk away… and then said..  Well, personally, I think God has the best plan that has worked all of my life and before.   Like I said Mac was a man of a few words.

So do you rake the leaves in your yard?  I see yards in the city of Sandpoint, where people put big bags of leaves at the street side for the city to pick up.    Me, I don’t. I follow Mac’s way of thinking..  But the King, he is kind of stuck in the middle… so he runs the lawn mower over them and mulches them.

 

 

IS IT JUST ME….…

IS IT JUST ME….… 

This is November already  AND over half of that… where is this year going??? 

It was February.. and then it was September…March thru August zoomed so fast by me..  I was hanging on to Summer so much, my fingers were marked on it.. I know it had to be so….  AND NOW IT IS NOVEMBER WITH December JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY!!

 

I know I made this reference before..  the joke about the bicycle with the toilet paper front wheel…. That kept running down..  and that it was life running out…   and how I laughed at the time..  I think I might have been thirty something…   Well, I am telling you at 84.. this is not funny.. No wonder we can’t remember much…  with the year on speed dial.

 

I hate December..  I hate COLD FREEZING WINTER. I hate Christmas all that goes with it.. the extra cooking, getting gifts… and all of that… and people arguing over Merry Christmas and me with my HAPPY HOLIDAY..  I just am lazy…..  you know with the spew of

HAPPY THANKSIVING..MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY NEW YEAR…   Happy Holidays is soooooooooo much easier.    Yes. I am not a fan of December..   do you remember the song by Merle Haggard?   IF WE MAKE IT THRU DECEMBER that was my theme song.. 

I don’t suppose life can make December go by, like it is on speed dial…    I am ok with learning to write 2025.. 

BAH HUMBUG..

Gosh, I hate getting old…

Gosh, I hate getting old…  

Last night I went to bed and fairly good shape.. Well, as good as I get..   But it really pisses me off to get up and something hurts that did not hurt when I went to bed.

Case in point…  I went to bed.  As I said ..in fair good shape.

I woke up in the morning, put my feet on the floor and started to take a step.. and PAIN.. in my ankle.  My right ankle.  Now remember I just told you, I went to bed in fair good shape..  So where the hell did this come from?  How do you get a sprained ankle IN BED???  So  I am limping to the bathroom, and could not see any redness..  no mark.. not that I was expecting one..but at least that would show something.   But NOTHING.. but PAIN..  So I gimped around, trying not to put weight on it..  The dog wants to go out, so I gimp to the door.   What do I see.. SNOW.. the dog is not pleased.. She makes several circle on the deck and then pees..  Looking at me as she runs for the door,  ‘you didn’t expect me to go down in the yard with all that snow, did you,’ look. 

Anyway, after putting on a sock and then my shoe.. the ankle let up and off I went to church..   But why is it.. when we get old… we go to bed… in fairly good shape, and something goes to hell in a hand basket by the time you get up.. After all, how much trouble can you get into …laying in bed.  Well, I guess enough to be upset about it. 

Oh, yea... I am heading to the insurance agency... for the King and I to get our health insurance supplement done for next year..   as you can see we are a little bit late.. Why because the King was hunting so we had to change our date for AFTER ELK SEASON....  then the second one..  well, that one is on me... I had it welded in my brain.. TUESDAY... at 2pm.  I had the sticky note on the mirror... I had it on the calendar on the wall in the hall.. They called and I said, yep.. TUESDAY at 2.. well, I guess she didn't hear me make a mistake..  because they called on MONDAY..  and said... do we need to reschedule your appt. I said "oh no, we will be there tomorrow TUESDAY at 2."... there was silence on the phone... then said  "uh"...   and I said.. tomorrow the 28th.. right.  and she said, uh.... actually it is on the 28th.. but that is TODAY. MONDAY..   my body collapse on the inside... as I looked at the sticky note that says the 28th...  Monday...   So reschedule to THE 18th.. at 9am..  They called on Friday.. I saw who was calling and I said.. this time I got it right...we WILL BE THERE MONDAY AT 9...RIGHT?   She said yes, this time you got it right...   see you MONDAY..  AND BY LOVE OF GOD.. WE WILL BE THERE..  

it is hell to get old..

Here we go folks… hang on to your hat…

Here we go folks… hang on to your hat…

You have 2 months to breathe in…  and out…  and decide how you will handle the next 4 and half years..  

Will he be the louse that we know he is?  Those who never did like him in the first place.? .

For those who ask us why not give him a chance..   Heck why didn’t they  say that about Joe?  After all you were kicking him before he even got in office..   And you had no clue what he would or could do.. And of course with Republican Congress for all 4 years..  there wasn’t a lot he could do.. Even when he tried to get Congress to pass a law with the border was concerned..  Trump …  Trump  who was not a President at the time… was not a Congressman at the time.. TOLD CONGRESS  not to pass it..  And they didn’t… What the hell?  Since when did Congress pay attention to and EX-President? Not in my memory..  But what the hell, rules and regs and common sense died..  so we sit and watch this one.. 

If there is any common sense people out there… and if come 2026 comes..  and you don’t like what he does.. then you better damn well. Over whelming… vote Democrat or Independent… If you keep voting Republican.. well, the saying comes to mind to me…  is….. the “definition to insanity is Doing the same thing over and over and expecting things to be different.”

Those of use over 60… know what the possibilities of this new group coming in…  we know what can happen, if we put too much tariffs.. on China..  who most don’t understand that they own a good share of our banks in the USA…  they too will raised their tariffs.. and will raise it twice as much as USA will do… So what does that do for your cheap food, and products?  Your meds..  Because it will be at least 2 to 3 years for the USA. To  get product factories going, to make the products that American’s love and can’t do without.. Car parts, clothes, and forget about televisions and computers..  And those parts made in Mexico, same thing.. after all when he starts up with the mess at the border… guess who won’t be selling for cheap prices anymore… 

ABC did a report about 8 years ago…  about products made here and over seas.. What would happen if we could not buy overseas…  We found out thru the show that a good share of the products we use every day…  could actually be made and bought here in the good old USA…  Only trouble is that those who made the products were not in mass production for the country to buy on an basis of what is needed by the whole country.. A lot of the furniture places made maybe 100 to 1000 a year.. it was a craft type thing.. not a mass production company.  Any way, the only thing they could not buy to furnish a new house with ALL USA PRODUCTS..  NO OVERSEAS products… was computers and televisions.. They were made in China, Korean, Japan and etc.  Oh, because the factories could not do a mass production right away.. the prices they ask for their products are high… After all they are paying USA wages.. not overseas…  And even with the tariff of right now.. is still cheaper than the USA. 

And that is only one area… of the new deal coming in..  

Once the Allies see that we are budding up with Putin and North Korea… well, let’s just say they were not happy about Trump last time.. especially when TRUMP ask for no one in the room with him except an translator..  and the rest of the world never did find out what he and Putin had to say to each other and any promises made my our head…

So start now, how to stay close to your family and friends.. I mean your GOOD FRIENDS… do things with them.. and hope you don’t look at the media too much to see what is going on…  and the media will hype it so bad, you won’t know what is truth or not…  So live you life with what matters to you…    It is not wearing shades… or putting your head in the sand… it is “Be aware”, just don’t make it your main thing in life..    and PRAY.. OH GOD, PRAY… that he knows what he is doing… (that is God, not trump)… and hope this 4 years goes by fast.. and pray the Democrats and Independent get there crap together in 2026..  

This pretty well says it all..

This pretty well says it all..

 

This pretty well says it all.. what is the saying a picture is worth a thousand words..??

 

 

 

November 5, 2024

 

November 5, 2024

 

VOTING DAY… GET OUT THERE.. NO EXCUSES.

 

NO VOTE.. NO  BITCHING RIGHTS…

and may the crumbs fall where they may tonight. 

Just get out and VOTE..

 Just get out and VOTE..

 

Yes, I am talking to you!!  Have you already voted early?  Good…. 

 

If you have not….  Get out there tomorrow…  and       Vote!!!    

 

 

 

COME WENDESDAY MORNING……   IF YOU DID NOT VOTE..  DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT GOVERNMENT IN ANY WAY….. TALK TO THE HAND… 

 

NO VOTING..  NO BITCHING RIGHTS…

Time for a readjustment…

Time for a readjustment…

Once again.. my memory failed me..  even with sticky notes and calendar marking…   Now going to have to go to double checking.. and not just mark dates, but days..  

I really screwed up yesterday…  We have an appt. for our health insurance that we have to do yearly..  I marked it on the calendar. Yes, in the right date on the right day….  Even had an arrow on it as we had changed the date before.. As the King was hunting.  I had the card taped to the mirror… even with a phone call..  some how…. Somehow..  I put it in my mind it was on a TUESDAY… NOPE…  it was MONDAY… didn’t register the actual number of the day.. by passed that..   So NOW it is push to NOVERBER 18. Getting close to the cut off date..  AND IT IS ON ME…

So got to come up with a better system..  there is ECHO.. so learning how to set that up…  OH PLEASE LORD, LET ME KEEP MY BRAIN..

And the race is on

And the race is on 

Here we go folks..  the last week of October..  Hello winter..as Friday is November. Once again.  How did THIS month fly by.

But starting next week the race will be on..   See on Sunday the 3^rd we have the old spring forward,  FALL BACK..  so we change our clocks back for the fall..  and then two days after that  Those who haven’t gotten their ballots in the mail.. or gone down for the early voting at your county seat building…  will be the ones who make up the WHO IS THE WINNER THIS YEAR…  and will we have the same nonsense as last time.. Trump scream.. fraud.. and then the riots start because people will believe him..  Or there will be a lot of disappointed Democrats…  Every four years for the past 12 years … election day has been a bitter disappoint for a lot of people.. some accept it gracefully..  other not so much.

So next Tuesday morning when my blog hits the internet… my question will be   DID YOU VOTE…..  and if there are still some stupid people who blow it off…   I give them my hand, when they start to complain.. IF YOU DID NOT VOTE… YOU DO NOT GET BITCHING RIGHTS….  SO TALK TO THE HAND.. Because I am not listening to you..  I don’t care who you vote for…JUST VOTE.    I will repeat these words next Tuesday.. ..

Politic.. are getting stranger and stranger…

Politic.. are getting stranger and stranger…

We, here,  in the northern part of Idaho get Spokane Washington state channels.   Rare if ever we get Idaho election ads.. Don’t know why our group, doesn’t do ads on the   Wa. Station.. After all if we put up with their Wa. Ads.. they can put up with ours.. and besides the stations get the $$$$$$.. And up here there is no Idaho stations.. they are all down around Boise.. 8 hours away.

Of interest of sorts is the Washington State Governor race.  Which has ads on, I am presuming, ALL Washington state stations. 

Their present Governor is not running.   So there is two newbies.

Ferguson, I think is the name of one of them.. the other guy, his starts with an R.   

The reason why I use a name for one and an initials for the other, is I haven’t seen much of his ads.. well, can’t say it is HIS ads because the ad is about what a terrible statesman he is.  Of that he has voted for or against that it is per seems to be, what the citizen would not want.  But Ferguson, has all kinds of what a great guy he is, his friends and brother is in the ads as well.

So I wonder… surely he must be doing better by ads (the guy with the R name)…. In Seattle area.  And hopefully down by Portland Oregon side of Washington state.    So why isn’t he putting in ads of positives in Spokane?  Does he think that Spokane won’t pay attention to his ads?  Be a new guy on the block and with a Seattle background…  shouldn’t he be letting Spokane and surrounding area’s  know who he is?  What good, he thinks, he can do for them? Or is he so arrogant that he feels he doesn’t need them?   (that in is self would be enough for me to vote against him, if I lived in Spokane.)

There once was a sign in the Spokane area… a billboard. It said.

DON’T LET SEATTLE DO THE VOTING FOR YOU…or something like that.  I would ask my son’s but none of them watch the news or regular programming.

Whoa.. but is this month running pass us?

Whoa..  but is this month running pass us?

Here it is the 21^st…  with just 10 days left..  I am so not ready.

Oh, the mild (and yes it is even mild for us..with 55 to 72 degrees) days..  No snow, not even in the mountain area..  (Sh sh….maybe I shouldn’t have said that… bad karma…)   I am still wanting to hold on to summer.. but I do have my winter clothes out and summer put away..  the yard is ready for winter, with the exception of a few potted plants who are hanging on..   Got our winter tires on the vehicles…  In Idaho you just never know.

But still how or why are the days flying by?  We are just two months away from Christmas..   (shut your mouth Cis, )…

Life just seems to be passing us by…  15 days to election where we will see how much this world will change..  Hopefully not the hateful part of the past 4 years..

So hang on to your hats folks..  the calendar pages are flipping by.

 

While Elk season is still alive….  So are the elk…   Elk alive and well  … the King 0

 

The race is on….ELK Season

The race is on….ELK Season

Today is the day of opening season for either sex. For those of you who are living on the East Coast…  Elk is like a large deer. Meat wise it is compared to a cow size. And taste..  Which is ironic as the elk sexes are BULL AND COW..   When the season starts it is bulls only… which was last week..  so here we are about 7 days in.. and it is cow season and that is when it gets serious… meaning you can kill either one of them..  a really open season… It is kind of figured if you don’t get one during cow season..  you are not in a good position..  See there is more of the season.. about week..  /cow season is only 3 days if I recall right.  But there is that week after.. and then there is black powder season, about a week.… But come Nov… it is over.. there is still deer season.. but deer is poor man’s elk.   Elk is more like beef and it is BIG..   Deer is small, and well, it doesn’t taste like anything but venison… if not cooked right, it taste like liver. I like the roast better..  Ken cooks the steaks as he can do it just right.  Me it is a 50-50 deal. But I make a great roast.

So today is the big day..  it is up at 2am.. (NOT ME) so he can get up there with his buddies who camped out.. He comes home at night for a warm bed and shower…  Then they leave camp, and head into the woods..  Because Ken is the senior guy now.. he gets to take the guys and drop them off at the top of the hill or mountain..  and goes down to the bottom and pick them up when they walk thru.. The young guys.. (The under 65 guys.)  Also while waiting for them to come out.. he sits there with his rifle.. and if they scare one his way… He gets to take it down..   the good news is that is near the road…  just about ¼ of a block from the road. So carrying it is not bad.  It is the ones who shoot near mid way.. who have the long haul..  That takes cutting it up in quarters. Load it on your back and head for the truck. Or nearest road so a truck can come get you.   Last year the guys did not get any elk.. only deer. So we are hoping for at least one Elk.   It is split between all he                                      who are hunting with you…  That is the rules of the hunt.  He who helps pack it out, and helps with the processing the meat.. gets a share.

And we women, most of us don’t hunt.. Use to.. when younger..  but now we get to stay home and keep the home fires burning. AND  we get to do as we DARN WELL WANT TO DO..  Some of us read books and drink tea.. watch the shows on tv WE LIKE.. and then there are some, it is party time with the girls..  Either at one’s home or the bars.  Go to shows their husbands wouldn’t be caught dead in..   So you see there is benefits to both sides. 

So here is to a great hunt and all the guys get their tags filled. 

 

Honor your Pastor month...... bears repeating...

I wrote this about 2 years ago... it bears repeating..  

HAPPY PASTOR MONTH... 

Being a Pastor.

As each of us religious persons, head to the church of our choice.. be it to see our Pastor, or Priest, Rabbi, or what ever else the head person is called… many of us take them for granted.

Many think that the night before he sat at his dining room table and wrote out notes or even .. word for word what he plans on saying the next morning at the Sunday (or Saturday) service.  Words of wisdom.  And then he goes home at the end of the day with his family or fellow Priest.

Never giving a thought of what the job actually entails.

Maybe if we were to sit around talking and having coffee and the subject would come up .. of what exactly does that person do..  maybe some of the other things would come up. Like running the church, of what he has in mind that is good for those who show up for services each week.  Good for the children. And the teens.. the elderly…

Maybe we would remember that they go to the hospital when one of the people ends up in the hospital.. due to sickness, or the pending death.   Some might even mention that maybe he goes to the jail to talk to jail mates.   They might think of those as some of the job description.. 

But what about the toll it puts on that man .. oh, I guess I should be a disclaimer, as there are some that are women.

But what does it mean to the clergy person?  And most of all.. his family.

Do we call only from 9am to 5pm on week days?  No. there are calls at dinner time.. asking for help, or to tell of a tragedy in our families, and he/she leaves the family and rushes to the place to be of help… be it something physical or prayers.. or words of comfort.   Some call on weekends.  Not even Dr’s have these hours that the clergy person has.  See they are available 24/7… where Dr. (unless they are the  small town only dr.) have back ups.. Other drs. that cover for each of ours at any certain time.  As they also cover for other doctors.  But it is rarely that there is a back up for the clergy. Yes there is jr. clergy at some churches so they can fill in for a service..  but it is the main guy who gets the call in the middle of the night or in the middle of dinner.. and etc. 

Being there really is no time off.. days off… they are available 24/7… what about the days, they head to the hospital in the afternoon, and visit with the family… sits with the person who is ill… hours of it.. and then heads home.. it can be an out of town hospital.. so it is hours of driving home.   Dead tired.. wore out.. and a lot of times.. no thank you giving… thank you for coming with no notice.. yet there he/she is… Trying to comfort us.. when someone should be comforting them.  What about the crisis in his own home.. Kids in trouble..  or illness of his own family.. their parents, or spouse, or even the kids..  who is there to say.. God will watch over you.. it will be ok..

To deal with humans as they have to do daily.. different problems, some times the parishioner will wear them down.  Not all problems are easy to fix.. and hard to comfort.

This is why some clergy burn out.. unless they can take months off..   Just a vacation doesn’t always cut it..

So with this being HONOR YOUR PASTOR MONTH…  maybe a kind word.. some comforting words.. words of appreciation… sometime we just don’t think about them.. we take them for granted.  And that is a horrible thing ..to take another human for granted.  

Maybe a small note to them.. to say thank you for being there.. than you for your guidance. … what do you think?

 

I’ll go first..  THANK YOU PASTOR CHAD.. (Sandpoint Church of Nazarene )  thank you for being there for all of us… thank you for your research to find the right words to guide us thru life.   Thank you for being on the run in those early hours, and sometime finishing up so late that your family has gone to bed..   THANK YOU seems so little to say.. but know the large words are filled to the brim with everything in my heart.   You must be doing something right.. as your oldest son is following in your footsteps..  and all of your children are following yours and Jamie's lead. 

 

And THANK YOU Koby, Carlie and Janine… a great crew we have.

 

HOT TUB … HOT TUB… YEAH!!

HOT TUB … HOT TUB… YEAH!!

We had our hot tub die last week..  The King took down half of the wall, and slid it out of the little house it is in.. Then he got a saw and cut it in half.. took it to the dump.. This was after testing the pumps and engine.. finding them fine, but the panel board was fried. 

A friend saw him taking it to the dump..  asked  him, if he wanted another one..   She would give him hers..   It was smaller, but that was fine with us. So Saturday, he went and got it.  Took the trailer around the yard and back into the area..  put rollers under it and slide it inside the little house.   He spend 2 days wiring it correctly, then he got the water in.. and started to heat it up.

By 6pm. yesterday. the tub was hot.. 103…  After working on it all day and getting the wall put back in.. we were beat. Our backs hurt, our legs hurt.. So being able to get in it was wonderful… 

He knows something that he can do for her, so he is going over tomorrow to take care of that..   Great to have good friends.

This is OUR AMERICA…..

This is OUR AMERICA…..  

If you have been watching the news the last week, and more so, the past few days…. You have seen Ashville N. C.  is in trouble. Water has washed away the roads….  The hurricane took house after house…  Even the people who still have their houses.. have no electricity.. no water … and for a while no roads..  Some still don’t have roads… But this past weekend..  there are trucks after trucks after trucks.. hundreds of them..  Workers, thousands have showed up to help these people who lost everything.  It is hard to watch the video’s of how bad it is..   

Hurricanes are no new weather hazards..  We have seen hurricanes for years..  a hundred or more years.. and it seems like there is more now.  I lived my young life in R.I… we were use to hurricanes..   But this one .. this one seems different. For one thing is Ashville is way inland from what a hurricane usually comes thru. It is more a coastal storm…  This one was more powerful than some of the past ones.. or maybe because it is more inland, it seems like it.

Before even FEMA arrived..  people were coming.. People with mules started a mule train to go thru the area where no vehicle could go.. taking in water, food… and what ever else they thought they could use, in those bad areas…  the ones no one was able to reach the first day or two.   Small churches are opening their doors to help give a place for people to go… opening their doors for the workers who have come from far away… 

THIS IS OUR AMERICA…  Take the politics and the nasayers, the people who are shown on television shows and news..  that upheave our towns…   THAT IS NOT OUR AMERICA….  THESE PEOPLE in North Carolina.. the survivors, the helpers, those with little .. sharing what they have..  THAT IS OUR AMERICA.. 

AN I AM MIGHTY PROUD OF THATAMERICA…

Ups and downs of life….

October 1, 2024 good morning Fall..

Ups and downs of life….

So yesterday we heading to Spokane Valley to return a part that was not needed in the restoring of the truck..  And we got our money back for that…  Then headed to a spa place to find out if our motors were good or not… for our hot tub…  Scored well on that..  as BOTH of them were just fine… The guy is one of those older guys who knows his stuff.. without a computer involved.. Remember those guys?   So he made a suggestion of the fact the heater might be the problem.. maybe it kicked out the breaker..  Sound reasonable. 

Off we go to the restaurant the King loves and not so much from me… Top of China… it is an all your can eat place.    The food was ok.. seem not really hot, but not cold either.. which was odd as steam was floating thru the air.   After we ate, we headed home.. and the traffic wasn’t bad.

Upon arriving home… I went to get something out of my jacket pocket… when it dawn on me… after I could not find it.. I LEFT IT AT THE RESTURANT… which is 45 miles away.. I called and yes they had it..  told them I would come and get it today… 

The King comes in..  he is bummed..  The motors are fine as we knew… and the heater is fine too… THEN he noticed a  little bit of smoke..   it is the master board..   fried…   This is a major part.

So now the decision…. Is ..  it worth the price.. or is it time to give up on it..  We decided… the hot tub is 20+ years old..  While we would love to get a new one..  but while getting the motor checked.. I saw that they average $10,000.. for a small one.. and that is what we would get, as we don’t need one as big as this one is. 

So we will think about that for bit .. and decide..  Maybe there is someone who repairs master boards. 

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?

WHERE IS THE TIME GOING? 

Here we are at the end of the month for September!!! SEPTEMBER!!! THAT MEANS THIS YEAR IS ¾ OVER!!

I was just starting the summer a few weeks ago.. Well, it seemed like a few weeks ago..  But Summer is history and we have already done the beginning of Fall..  

Tomorrow is OCTOBER!!  I am still hanging on to summer.  Well, that isn’t quite true, as I have changed out my summer clothes for my winter clothes and have 99%  of my yard art in the yard put away, thanks to the GGBoys.  BUT my mind is still in Summer…

Oh, geesh, that means it is 7 MONTHS AWAY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Some days are more trying.. than others..

Some days are more trying.. than others..

I have had to deal with insurance companies..  both about our truck but also health insurances..  And even other companies.  All dealing with the world as it is… and I am soooooooo left behind.   Over all, I am glad to be of the old system..  But once in a while.. it crashes into the NOW of today’s…   99% of that is to deal with internet, computers and such..  I have mention we don’t have smart phones.  I tried that.. failed.. I own that..  it was way over my head and the machine knew more about me.. than I knew about me.  And when it could listen to our household… that was the deal breaker.

But the rest of the world is running with it like a dog with a bone. And it is getting worse.  There is AI .. which I understand about 10% of that.  I look at it with fear, because it can copy voices, make its own pictures..  without the owner of the computers or their voices and permission.  Truth is getting to be a lost art.

It seems like it is everywhere.. Grocery stores ads… there is the square.. just click this on your phone.. or what ever..  and you will get the  buys that are cheaper ..  What about those of us who don’t have smart phones..  Some elderly don’t even have cell phone… Yes there are a few out there..  We are being left behind…

Click on the square..  or what ever they call it…   click on it to give your money to your church,  click on it to pay for your food at the fast food place, click on it to get you plane ticket…  oops they don’t do tickets anymore.. 

There is texting.. you ever try texting with a flip phone??? Where you have to hit each button until you get the letter you need?  And then when they text.. they say.. click on this blue line of letters and numbers..  Our flip phones are not connect to internet..  we can’t  click on anything..  So we are out of the line…  I don’t do text  unless it takes 3 or less words.

Yes, the world is flying by us..  thank God for granddaughters and my kids.. who have help me out soooooooooo many times.

 

BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

These last couple of days… we have been blessed beyond belief.

Starting Friday early am… when the King and his friend.. who is almost like brother to him..  started the wonderful weekend.

Maybe I should start at the beginning…

In August, if you read my blog you know that the King was in a accident that was not his fault…  a man made a bad quick decision and made a left hand turn in front of our truck.  Which of course, hit his car, spun him around and the truck kept going, past them on the ditch line… and our truck hit the telephone pole dead center of our grill. Thankfully the pole did not snap..  And it appears there is no injuries to persons.. THANK GOD for that..  truly a blessing.

After no contact with the man’s insurance..  (their side would not return calls) we had to turn in a claim on our insurance.   Long story short, we decided to buy back our truck and get it fixed. As this truck has special place in our hearts.   Then the Blessing started. 

Blessing one…..  a good friend who is a logger and has multiply equipment… loans to the King a huge trailer that our truck could fit on. Then another friend, steps up and says.. my truck will tow that trailer for you.  So on Friday the two left, with the truck on the back of the trailer.   A memorial trip, with a flat tire,, time taking waiting for the tire company to come.. and put two on the trailer.  Then they encounter… what we in this area calls    I-5 PARKING LOT… As they were going thru the Seattle to Portland alley…. During work hours of 4pm to 6pm…  taking about 3 hours to get thru, when it is normally and hour and half.   So 12 hours later they arrived. 

The good friend took the trailer back home to the other friend the next day without incident.  Blessing number 2.

Then Saturday morning… starts BLESSING #3…  The truck was attacked on all side.. top to bottom.. and by the end of the day..  All damage was removed.. replaced by parts purchased…  and in the paint room, buy night fall.   These young men  (ages 56 to 61..lol)   transform this truck back to the original shape of when we bought it 12 years ago.    It was amazing for the King to watch these men work so hard for him.  He joked with them.. they tormented him. Seems the King’s painting talent is not quite what the men envision.. He had done some patch work about a month ago…  Which was a great source of entertainment for the men. .  So on Sunday it was a day of waiting for the paint to cure.. so they got the grill and bumper ready for putting on.  There will be a wheel alignment with in a day or two.  And then the King will be heading home, with a restored truck. As good as new. 

What makes this such a great Blessing, is these men.. which is hard for me to type..  as I have called them boys for so long..  over 50 years…  are my son’s…  I should say ours.. as they call him more than me.    These son’s the King inherited when he married me.  They were adults at that time and of course now…  But when these 4 men and my husband get together… it is a time of a life time.. the joking, tormenting, and yet the love that is shown on both sides..

They answered his call a couple years ago.. when the bed of the truck was falling apart.. They found a replacement.. painted and  then had us come down and pick it up..  That time too, was at one of the son’s shop… with all 4 on hand.. to remove and replace the bed.

But this job was far more…  

Our blessings is OUR son’s..  Amazing 4 ….   I am SO PROUD..and it brings tears of joy to know they have turn out to be such fine young men..   By the way..  the King has tried to pay for this..  and was greeted with… NO WAY.. PUT YOUR MONEY AWAY… AND even one time was hung up on…. When he was trying hard to get them to agree…  THIS WHOLE RESTORATION…. WAS DONE WITH LOVE.   WE ARE BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF….

 

AT THE END OF THE DAY