A Prairie View

Boys Will Be Boys

Sometime in the next week or so, our city will start enforcing the noise ordinance curfew. Boys will be boys. You watch little boys who love to ram their trucks together, playing on their knees, and making that crashing noise for hours. Those little boys often grow up to get behind the wheel of a car and ram that car into others, as the crowd cheers them on.   Our little county fair is always at the end of July, and one of the annual attractions is the demolition derby.   All during the month of July, you will hear the sound of engines roaring, coming to life, as these young (and no so young) men work on their cars, getting them ready, hoping to come out #1 at the end of the night when demolition night is finally here.

Part Of The Process

I am checking into something that will require surgery, although it may be outpatient. As I read, part of the process, which I suppose is understandable, will encompass a colon cleanser. That doesn’t sound like fun at. all. But I understand why they have to do it. A little bit of discomfort for what could be a lifechanging procedure. I have to look at the big picture, and not the small “less than comfortable” thing that I may have to go through to achieve the end result. Its scary, and I’m not sure I will actually go through with it. But, I am getting informed. I am taking steps forward to make it happen. But, whether or not I follow through is still yet to be seen.

Making A List

We need to go to Emporia or Topeka soon. With the rising cost of water and electricity, we really need to change out the faucets in our bathroom. I dont’ know one faucet from another, but David said we would probably look at Grohe faucets when we did it. Just wish we had some kind of home improvement store our in our little town. I love living here, and its small enough to feel safe, and everyone knows everyone. But, there are disadvantages as well, especially when there are speciality items like faucets and pipes and other such things, needed. We then have to drive 45 miles to one town, or 60 to the other to get what we need. Usually, we make a list, and when the list gets long enough to justify going, we go. I know this is one of the prices we have to pay living in a small town, but I still wouldn’t want to live any other place!

Nothing To Hide

Matt (my middle son) is not the only one who has come a long ways. He comes by his stupid mistakes honestly. It took me a bit longer than it did him, but I do feel like I turn a corner in my life, and I am able to be “just like everyone else”, in some respects. It wasn’t always that way. I would purchase something that wasn’t budgeted, and then I’d be afraid to tell David. I would try to “fix” it with the next round of paychecks — by just not paying a bill. Which I would “fix” the next round of paychecks. See how this might snowball out of control? Well. It did. I would get desperate. I didn’t know about fast cash payday loans during those days, or I would have tried getting getting them to fix what I shouldn’t have done in the first place. Or, maybe not so much not doing — but rather just telling David right away. Yes, he probably would have been mad or upset. But not nearly as mad or upset as he was when things had snowballed out of control and I finally got the courage to tell him….several thousands of dollars of debt later. No to mention late bills, ruined credit. All the while, he thought everything was just fine.

I look back and question my actions. We finally found some middle ground — our own accounts. And slowly, giving me responsibility for one little bill. And then another. It made me feel like I was contributing to the financial part of our marriage, and yet, he wasn’t turning total control over to me. In the past year, I have payed off my Explorer, have our house payments paid ahead (like — through November!) — and if I continue making the house payments like I have been, our house will be paid off next year. I can take pride in my actions now. I even opened a checking account - again - with David’s permission, and have been totally responsible with it, never allowing it to be overdrawn. My account is accessible on line, and I have told David he has full access to it. I have nothing to hide. THAT is a good feeling.

Turning The Corner

I always have to sit back and take pride in my middle son, who has come such a long ways. When he was a teenager, he made life interesting, and I earn a fair amount of my gray hairs just from from him. As he became a young adult, he did ok, but still made his share of mistakes along the way. I worried about him when he would do, what we would consider, stupid things. But, we also knew it was just part of the learning process. He had a good job, and yet, he always seemed to have a cash advance loan hanging over him. He never seemed to get caught up.

And then. He turned the corner. He started putting money away. He stopped overspending, and budgeting his money. When he applied for a house loan, he was turned down, but it was very much a learning process for him, and made his realize just how foolish some of those things he did when he was younger really were. He took ownership of those very delinquent bills, and now it is his goal to get a decent credit rating, and sometime, down the line, be able to apply for a house loan again, and be approved.

Praying For My Cousin

I need to email my uncle and see how my cousin is doing. They sent out a disturbing email letting us know that my cousin had cancer. I don’t think it was mesothelioma but nonetheless its serious and I pray for him every day. If that isn’t bad enough, the town that they live in has been hit with baseball size hail, and then a week later, a tornado went through (Manhattan, KS). There are 20 of us cousins on this side of the family. We’ve all had some health issues along the way, but nothing as serious as this. We can only pray that he will beat this.

Affordable Health Insurance Quotes

I know health insurance is on everyone’s mind these days, and as I get older, I can’t help but wonder what the future holds. We let our health insurance go 10 year ago because we just could not afford the premiums anymore. Fortunately, we have stayed relatively healthy. In the sense of no major medical issues, except for being in the hospital 6 days a few years ago because of my heart being out of rhythm. We both have numerous medical things wrong with us, but so far, we have been able to manage the cost of the doctor’s visits and the prescriptions without the aid of insurance. However, I know that at some point, we really should try to find affordable insurance. But how do you find your way around the healthcare maze? E Health Help has been helping people with Health Insurance quotes since 1999. It only takes a few minutes online and you are able to get insurance quotes from leading insurance providers. Things are changing, and we hope that it will be for the better. On a personal level though, we need to look at our future and what health care we are going to need.

Flying By

This summer is flying by way to fast. Lots of rain, and a little hot weather, but it really hasn’t been bad. Its just going by too fast. Fall will be here before we know it, and then the dreaded winter. I am battling several health issues, and I don’t like it. But, they come from the choices I have made, so its up to me to make better choices to make things better. I have decisions to make, research to do. But it’ll be fine. In the end, it will all work out, one way or the other.

Wishing The Wrinkles Away

I know that alot of people look for the best wrinkle cream on the market, but these days, I worry less about wrinkles, and wish I could find something that would make my feet/ankles stop swelling. With the swelling comes burning and itching, plus my legs just ache. But the end of the day, I am ready to call it a day because I can’t take the uncomfortable feeling my ankles and legging are making me deal with. If only wrinkles were my only worry. That would be such a joy!

Father’s Day

This actually is working out OK. When we were putting together Father’s Day plans, we had to take into account that Ethan had a 2:00 committment. So, anything we did, couldn’t be done until after 3:00. David said that was OK, he’d probably work a little before we went. He got something like 15 calls “during church” (it was on silent, and he didn’t answer them) — with a couple different problems. As it turns out, he needed this extra time to get somecar parts — well, ok, actually truck parts. A brake pot? got me, but sounds like a necessary part of safe driving. He’s called me a couple of times, and it sounds like he will be able to be home at the appointed time, and then we’ll head out. Nice how things work out that way.

Off The Beaten Path

I wish I could today what I did yesterday. Yesterday was a “stay at home” kind of day, and I was able to my Lasix (water pills) early,and since my doctor upped the dosage, staying close to home was pretty much a necessity. By taking the increased dosage, drinking lots of water, and keeping my feet up, my feet and ankles were in pretty good shape this morning. Not swollen or hurting at all. But, today we had church this morning, and then when Ethan gets home, we are headed for Topeka. So, I suppose a colon cleanse wouldn’t be a good idea today either. Its a 60 mile trip, one way to Topeka, and not many towns in between. So, I will forego taking my pills today and get back on track tomorrow.

Doing Something Right

There is no doubt in my mind that Ethan’s love of books and reading comes from when I was pregnant with him. I bought a tape player, and checked out audio books and music from the library. It didn’t matter if it was a children’s book , or a book that I would have checked out for myself, it was the steady stream of words, as the voice would read, that was enbedded in the forming little brain inside the child I was carrying. Its not unusual to walk in our house and find both of us with our nose in a book. He loves to read. And if he can find trilogies, thats even better. There are lots of things I probably haven’t done right as a mother along the way, but reading to him before he was born was definately one of the right things.

Getting Away

Boy, everyone is on vacation this week. My friends from KC are leaving this week to go on vacation. Our daugher and her family are going to Branson for vacation this week. My middle son isn’t going anywhere, but he doesn’t have to work this week — vacation. And Ethan told me that my oldest son is on vacation this week as well. Wow. I don’t think any of them have booked Mediterranean cruises for their get away, but nonetheless, whereever they go, whatever they do, I imagine they will have the best of time, and is truly what family memories are made of. The jobs we have don’t really allow time for us to get away. If we want to go somewhere, we go, but it costs us a week of wages. Thats ones of the disadvantages of working part time jobs. No benefits. David works full time, but again, no benefits. We do have a trip to Branson planned for later on in the year. I’m hoping we are able to get away and enjoy our selves. But, its one of those “only time will tell” kinds of things.

Its All In the Shoes

With the problems I have had with my feet and ankles swelling, I have been so thankful that I bought a pair of sandels that I can adjust the straps on. I’m not sure that even vegan shoes can help at this point. I’m taking Lasix for the problem, but it hasn’t really seemed to help these past few days. I have a doctor’s appointment, not this week, but next week. I will probably wait until then to see him, but I am definately going to say something. I hate living like this, and I am ready for things to change. Too bad its not as simple as changing shoes. That would be something!

Finding A Happy Medium

This weekend was much nicer weather wise than last weekend, which figures. We didnt’ camp this weekend, but we did last weekend. David’s brother did take their camper out to the lake though. They have a new camper, so they were wanting to try it out. They went from a motor house, that had everything you could think of in it. Maybe not a tv wall mount, but the TVs were built into cabinet-type things, so that could almost make it a wall mount, right? Anyway, they went from a motorhome to a camper that could nicely pack up into a trailer that they pulled behind their motorcycle. Needless to say, after one weekend out in that, they decided they needed to find a happy medium. Not as big as the motorhome they sold, but something bigger than the popup tent they have now. Apparently someone had a “for sale” in their camper where we were parked last weekend, because thats what they bought. I’ll have to give her a call this week and see how they liked it. The popup tent thing they have is cute and really compact, but I can see why it didn’t fit their needs. I don’t care what we camp in — big or small, as long as it has a bathroom and A/C. Those are my two requirements. I know, I know. Thats not really roughing it, but thats OK. Its gotta have those 2 things or I’m not going.