A Prairie View

Playing All Weekend

Its hard to believe the weekend is over already. Weekends go fast anyway, but you would think a 3 day weekend - one that started at noon Friday for me — would have taken a little longer. But, it sure went by fast. You would have thought we were on treadmills, staying in one place the whole weekend, pretty much doing the same thing every day. The storms did through a bit of drama into the weekend, and a bit of family friction, but all in all, it was good. It just went by way to quick. Its back to work tomorrow. And a short week at that, but the same about of work to do in 4 days rather than 5. But it was worth it. I took lots of pictures, which I’ll get posted to my Flickr account, and make out my to-do-list for the week, and see if I can get anything accomplished after playing all weekend.

Showing My Appreciation

I will probably just send them a thank you card, but the thought occured to me that I should send David’s girls gift baskets (filled with fun camping stuff, like marshmallows and chocolate and bug spray and ….) for everything they have done this weekend. I have cooked a couple of the meals, but they have really jumped in and done the others, and I really appreciate that. I haven’t taken my Lasix for a couple of days, and I am really feeling it today. I did take it today, and now I REALLY am feeling it (many many trips to the bathroom). So, I have had to stay pretty close to home. Mostly inside in the camper, because getting in and out of our camper isn’t easy for me. There’s nothing wrong with the steps — its just me. So, coming in, going out, coming in, going out … I just decided I would just stay put inside, and let everyone know they were more than welcome to come, enjoy the A/C, and keep me company. Becky is in here right now, trying to get Alex t go to sleep. He was soooo hot and red when they came in. But once he got cooled off, he is in a pretty good mood. But. She still wants him to take a nap. Lots of goings on of that little boy, and so not his routine. But all in all, he’s been really good natured, and is loving every minute of camping.

Figuring It Out

We were sitting around the campfire a couple nights ago. My son-in-law works in tech support, and we were talking about his job, and what he does. And he said something about a used cisco. I had heard that word before but wasn’t sure just what it was. He tried explaining it to — still unclear to what it is, although I gather it has something to do with the phone system in large companies, which would explain why its not in my vocabulary. The biggest company I’ve ever worked for employed 100 people … and we did have 6 lines coming in. But since then, there is 4 employees at my morning job, and 2 office people at my afternoon job (11 drivers, but they all use cell phones). Maybe someday I’ll understand just what it is, but until then, my son-in-law can continue to try and explain it to me.

Blogging Makes Me Happy

I can’t remember a time in my life when getting the details of my life down on paper wasn’t the forefront thought in my mind. From the time I learned to write, through my turbulant teenage years, and an even more turbulant marriage at a young age, pen and paper was always there.

Going into my 2nd marriage, and a lifestyle that was the total oppposite of the way I had been living just the year prior, it took some mental adjusting, but again, the pen and paper never failed me. What did fail me was finding the time to do the amount of writing I wanted to do. I went from a life of being totally secluded, no friends, no family, no neighbors, only 2 young boys and a husband who was never there, physically or emotionally for me, to a life of church involvement, employment of 8 or more hours a day, raising 4 children, and then a baby … my writing kind of took a back seat. Not entirely, but not as prevalant.

Discovering the computer world and the internet was wonderful. And a blog? What was a blog? as I quickly found out, it was just an electronic version of what I used to do. Only, I could do it much quicker because I can type much faster than I can write by hand. I learned how to blog. I learned html and how to tweak blog layouts, and I finally found contentment with my writing, and my life.

Through blogging, I have been able to discover a creative side of me, that has nothing to do with the written word. I have met some wonderful people — some we have been able to actually meet in real life. Others, are still miles and miles away, but still close to me in heart.

And then. There is that paid blogging thing. I know it took the blogging community and the internet by storm. Lots of controversy. But, to many of us, it was a dream come true. We were able to do the thing we had always loved to do … and advertisers were interested in what we had to say. I do not see doing paid blogging as selling my writer’s soul. I see it as another layer to what I do every day anyway. They say money can’t buy you happiness. And in many respects, they are right. But, blogging, and everything I have included in my blogging life, does … make me happy.

A picture is worth a million words, right? Let me share a few millions words with you about my love for blogging, and specifically, why it makes me happy.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Finding The Right Shoes

I am so glad summer is here. With the problems I have been having with the swelling of my ankles and feet, being able to slip into a pair of sandals has been a god-send. I’m not sure I could have gotten into any kind of regular shoes, even Ecco shoes and even if I could have, how comfortable would it have been? Having this problem this winter would not have been a good deal. I just gotta keep taking the Lasix the doctor prescribed for me, and making a dozen trips to the bathroom after taking it, but it keeps the feet from swelling. Such is life.

Getting Comfy

One night in our new camper, and we knew we had to do something. Getting a mattress topper- or an airmattress or something. Sleeping on the ground would have felt better. I know the mattress you sleep on needs to be firm, but this seemed to go beyond firm. It didn’t matter what it was, we didn’t get a good nights sleep because it just was not something we were used to, and way too firm. After getting the airmattress, it made a world of difference, and we were able to get a decent nights sleep. At home, I suppose as some point we will have to give up our waterbed and get a real bed with a real mattress. But, we have slept on this the entire 25 years of our marriage, and I’m definately not ready to change it out just yet.

Loving My New Phone

I am slowly learning what all my new phone — a Blackberry — is capable of doing. I am so impressed, and am so loving everything I can do with it. One thing it does do, that I probably won’t utilize, but kinda wish I could. It has a GPS application. Its integrated into my phone, but I have to subscribe to it on my phone to make use of it. Living in town, very seldom going out of town, and our town is very very small, it just doesn’t make any sense to enable that feature of my phone. I’m hoping that being able to hook my phone up my laptop to get internet will be just as easy. We are camping this weekend, about 45 miles from home, so there won’t be any running home (which is usually only 3 miles) to get online or check my email. I won’t be totally cut off because my sweet phone will do it all for me. But it would be alot more convenient if we are able to plug into the laptop. I’ve got 3 days to make some calls and get it figured out.

One Step At A Time

I have a friend who is THE best friend in the world. Even though they have moved several hours away, and time may have dulled the sharp edges of our friendship, we are still good friends, and she always seems to be there for me, to help me back up when I stumble. Our latest venture is taking one step at a time. Instead of turning to Phentermine to get me back on the path to weight loss and health eating … she is going to give me a goal each week to try and achieve. Simple goals. Such as “eat 3 fruits a day this week”. I have a weight loss blog, so I’m going to keep track there for her to keep up with my success (or failure), but I believe with her help, maybe I can find that right path I have been searching for.

Time To Grill

Mostly sunny. Highs around 78. Lows around 46. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Esp. after all the storms that have been rolling through here, and Missori and Arkansas. The sun was shining. No wind. A perfect spring day. David’s brother called and invited us over for a BBQ. David had a meeting at 7:30, and Ethan had Quartet practice at 7:30, so getting together at 6:00 was just the right time. They have a really nice deck, and we just sat around and chatted, while the guys grilled the steak.

Because of the 2 meetings, we did leave by 7:30. My middle son is moving from Emporia back to here, so I had called him earlier to see if he wanted to come over and eat. Ethan had bought 3 huge steaks (this BBQ was a last minute thing — David called me at 4:50 telling me about the plans, and we didn’t have any steak or hamburger, and I really didn’t have time to run to the grocery store. However… since Ethan works at said grocery store, I just gave him a call, and he picked up what we needed). Anyway, I knew Matt might not have everything moved down yet, so if he wanted to eat part of our steak, that would be great. He wanted to keep unloading the truck, so he didn’t come over. I put what steak I didn’t eat on a paper plate, and dished him up some other stuff, and after dropping Ethan and David off at the church, I stopped by his house to give him his food. He had a friend there helping him, so I didn’t stay long. I’ll go see his house laster this week.

Finding A Solution

I am at the end of my rope. I am not in a good place, and I need to find my way out , whether it be on my own, with the help of products such as Leptovox or resorting to see my doctor. This goes beyond uncomfortable. I am miserable. I am not functioning through day to day life in a normal manner. I cannot keep going like this. There has to be an answer out there for me in some form. Something that will work for me, and get me back to a reasonable way of life. I can’t keep going like this!!!

Getting Plans Into Place

Going into the month of May, it makes we realize that we need to start getting plans into place for going to Branson, if we decide to go in the fall. Time will get away from us if we aren’t careful. Since it is less than a day’s drive to get there, checking into flight deals isn’t on my list of things to do. But there are room reservations to be made, literature to look through and kind of have an idea of what we will do while there. I don’t want to have a strict “to the minute” agenda going, but I also don’t want to fly into the weekend blind, not having a clue to what we do or what we’ll see. Which is usually what we do. I do know there is a blogging friend I want to meet up with that lives in that area. We also have friends who live in KC who said they would meet us there for an evening — and go to this Mexican restraurant that they know that is really really good. I also have to get serious about my physical health, or there is no point in even planning. If David were to say “pack your bags, we’re going today” … I could not do it. That is where my main focus needs to be. I’ll focus on the physical, and David can get the rest of our weekend plans put in place.

Counting My Blessings

When Brett came out to the office Thursday, and told us of some weather stuff he had been listening to, I knew it wasn’t going to be a good deal. We ended up getting some “weird” weather, but nothing too damaging. He was headed home and I called David and told him we had hail. He told me I was smoking something. He was only a mile or so from town, and the sun was shining. He got into town, still no indication of rain — which was also weird. The first time it hailed (we got two doses of it), it hailed but there was just a sprinkling of rain, and then when it was actually hailing, there was no rain with it. When he got just a couple blocks from our house, he said he could smell rain, and the sidewalks looked damp. It rained and hailed (pea size) a bit more, and that was pretty much it.

During the middle of the night though, it was frightening listening to the TV. We left it on our local channel just in case we needed to be alerted to other storms. Hearing “funnel on the ground” in counties adjoining ours, was a bit unnerving. But, the storm was headed more north, so again, we escaped any major damage.

But yesterday and today, other parts of the country haven’t been so lucky. From the news reports. many towns have been hit pretty hard. I am counting my blessings that we yet again escaped major damage.

Looking For A Mother’s Ring

David and I got married when we were in our 20’s. We brought 4 children to the marriage. He had 2 daughters and I had 2 sons. As time went along, I came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t have any more children once I turned 30. We had 4 children already, so having another wasn’t on a high priority list for us. Although in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wish that “we” had a child.

For my 30th birthday, David bought me a Mother’s ring, with 2 large stones — his and mine, and 4 small stones with our kid’s birthstones. Something similiar to this …  only the kids stone were smaller and there were 4 of them.

2 years later … surprise, surprise. “We” had a child. Of course, then, I made him get me another Mother’s ring to display ALL of our children. That child is now 17 years old, and I still wear that ring.

Somewhere along the line, I would like to get a Grandmother’s ring.  Lifetime Mothers has a nice selection of rings, as well as other personalized jewelry.  Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and something from their website would make a great gift if you are looking for a  mother’s ring for your wife, or mother.  It is an easy to navigate site, and they still have inventory guaranteed in time for that special day.    Most of their rings can be personalized with my choice of birthstones and can be personally engraved with the names of your children.  Mother’s Day.  Birthday. Christmas.  Just because you want to show your love to that special person, mother of your children, or even your own mother.  Lifetime Mothers can do just that.