Play Time

When I was a little girl, my sister, our friends and neighbors and I played a lot things using mostly our imaginations and sometimes a few props.

One of the things we played was "horses."  This was done in two different ways.  One way was to pretend we were horses and we galloped and neighed all around our large yard.  We would choose what we looked like--I was usually a powerful black stallion--and we named ourselves.  We played this type horses mainly at our house on Arlington Street in Pueblo.

The other way we played horses was by riding our bicycles with ropes attached to each end of the handlebars.  The bikes were the horses and we were the riders.  We would ride our horses around and around the block. There were times when we would count how many times we went around and tried to ride around 100 times.  (Probably we did the 100 times around the block by just riding, not pretending the bikes were horses.)  We did this on 25th Street in Pueblo.

Sometimes we played "love."  Someone would be the woman and someone would be the man (I think we played this with just girls).  I think this theme sometimes included "war."  The man would come back from the war, and then man and woman would kiss--by putting our hands flat against our mouths and then just kissing our own hands.  We played this on Arlington Street.

We played "fairies" which only meant the little flying people with beautiful wings.  We flew everywhere.  You know, I dreamed about flying when I was young.  I even tried to really fly at one time.  One day I had a stomach ache, and I told my mom.  She told me to say over and over, "I don't have a stomach ache; I don't have a stomach ache."  I did it, and my stomach ache went away.  So I thought maybe this could happen with flying.  One day I said over and over, and I mean over and over, "I can fly; I can fly; I can fly."  I said it for several hours, and every once in a while I would jump up to see if it was working.  It never did, but it wasn't for lack of trying. (On Arlington)

We also played "house."  My folks had a stack of old boards back behind the garage.  We took some of the boards and outlined rooms to make our houses.  It was fun--until our parents got rid of the boards.  They didn't even ask us.  It was sad.  This also was on Arlington.

We played beauty contest and school.  We played with our dolls.  We played our little red record player and sang songs.  We had clubs.  With the neighbor's permission we ate fresh veggies out of her garden. We climbed trees--there were a number of times I had to be rescued out of the tree.  We rode our bikes and hunted for four-leaf clovers over at the school grounds.  We roller skated and jumped rope.  We were very active and we didn't watch much TV--there wasn't much on.  We read comic books and real books.  We sold lemonade and some of those comic books.  We walked to the store and we rode the bus when were we older to go downtown and spend a dollar.  And of course, we had chores.

Life was good.  We were creative and busy and active.  We were blessed.

Good Things

I feel like making a list of gripes, but I'm at least going to start with a list of good things:

I have a good job.
No one in my family has cancer.
Jen is feeling better.
Gary is a good husband.
It feels a little like fall outside and a little like being in the mountains.
Our cars are working.
Our puppies are a lot of fun.
There is fresh produce at the farm stand.
It's Saturday.
Aaron vacuums the living room nearly every week.
We have celebrated our 40th anniversary and Gary's 60th birthday this summer.
God is good.

I need to get happier.

An Unexpected Adventure

I work at the county Sheriff's Office, and for the last several months the building has been renovated with a large addition on one end. We are getting close to everything being finished, and one of the last steps has been the laying of the carpet in the downstairs hallway.

On Thursday I opened the door to step out of the large room where I work into the hallway. I saw a man from the left winding up a string and another man rolling up the same string from the right. No carpet had yet been laid.

After the man from the right passed by me, I stepped out into the hall to cross over to the restroom which was only a couple of feet to the left of the door to my work area. As soon as my feet hit the hall floor, they both stuck firm to the floor--the carpet glue had already been put down, but I didn't see it.

I tugged hard on my left foot and it came loose with some effort, and then I turned it partly around to face the other direction. When I pulled on my right shoe, my foot started to come out of it. A woman I didn't know who was standing halfway down the hall where it was already carpeted hollered, "You'll have to leave your shoes there!" Well, I didn't plan to do that, so I pulled harder.

About that time I realized I was in a precarious position and in danger of falling. The carpet man meanwhile had moved closer to me while saying, "The floor is sticky." Oh, really? He held out his hands and I took hold of him and was able to finally to move off the glue and back to the ungluey part of the floor.

I think the moral of this story could be it's good to look before you leap. Or all's well that ends well. Or holding hands with a stranger isn't all bad.

When I told some of my co-workers this story, one said she was laughing with me, not at me. I must have been laughing very quietly.

Annibirthary - Birthaversary

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This summer is our Birthaversary or Annibirthary--we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary and Gary has his 60th birthday. Our anniversary was June 10th. We celebrated by spending the night in Denver. We ate at a couple of favorite places and saw a couple of movies. Good times..

Gary's 60th birthday is coming up on August 20th. I don't know yet what we will do for it. He will get to choose the meal of his choice for sure--it will probably be fried chicken or steak. Beyond that I'm not sure what will happen. Right now he is saying no gifts, but that can't be right. We'll see..

We would like to celebrate in bigger and better ways, but there are some limitations to our possibilities including little energy and limited money. Actually most of our married lives we have had limitations on money and time. Now we could probably work out having time, but there still is not enough money and now we have less energy/motivation than we used to. Oh, well..

But we really enjoyed the anniversary celebration we did have, and hopefully Gary will enjoy his birthday..

HAPPY BIRTHAVERSARY OR ANNIBIRTHARY TO US!!

Wedding Surprises

I have a friend at work who found out after the wedding something about her husband that was very peculiar--and very interesting to me. He won't or can't eat things that are round. This includes meatballs, certain kinds of cereal, some candies and many other things, I suppose. I think that is very odd. If Beth makes meatballs, she has to cut them in half for Jerry. I guess he can eat half of round things. I guess I'm suspicious that this anomaly must not really be true--surely he is just making this up. But I suppose since he has maintained this behavior for many years, it must be the truth. I suppose in every marriage there are surprises. That makes life exciting!

Meeting with Strangers

I stayed home from work on Monday so I could be at home to meet with the sprinkler guy who was turning on the sprinklers and seeing if there were any problems. Even though the day wasn't an exceptional vacation day, it was a very nice day. I watched a movie, played online Scrabble, read, did a little housework.

Today is Thursday, and I'm taking this day off as well. I had to meet with the air conditioning guy. I'm pleased to say the air conditioner is working very well. So happy. We've had a mix of using the air and the heat during the last couple of weeks. Yay for spring in Colorado!

I had to go to the store earlier today, and so I stopped at a Chinese buffet near here for lunch. It's not wonderful food, but it's inexpensive and I found some things I liked. I really love Chinese food, and not just because my daughter is Chinese. Our whole family is partly Mexican and just a tiny bit Italian--pizza/spaghetti Italian.

So tomorrow is Friday. It has been great to only work three days this week. This is definitely a schedule I could get used to. I never used to even think about retirement, but the last year or two it's definitely been on my mind. It seems like it's going to take too long to get there. Oh well. I need to be careful not to wish my life away.

Random Thoughts

1. One lady at work quotes her ninth grade boy who says, "What the h_ll!" Apparently it's okay for him to say the word. She says cuss words some herself but not a lot. I say, "Why allow and encourage a child to use that language?" They will say enough of that kind of stuff without encouragement. 2. I talked to Jen last night. She is very involved in practicing a play to present in May. The play is similar to the the play "Into the Woods" which I really enjoyed seeing on TV several years ago. I think she is playing the wicked stepmother. 3. We got our dog Gizmo groomed yesterday. The groomer cut his little foot, although it wasn't too bad. This is the third time his foot has been cut. Last time it was bad enough for him to wear a bandage plus a cone around his neck. He seems to be okay today. Poor little guy. Going to the groomer just wears him out. 4. We grilled steak for lunch today--just round steak. It was pretty good. 5. I've been playing a lot of "Words with Friends" online--it's like Scrabble. It's a lot of fun. 6. I'm staying home from work tomorrow because the sprinkler guy is coming to turn on the sprinklers. We've watered our front yard grass (Gary has) by hand several times, so it will be good to have the automatic system on. 7.Gary had a stress fracture in his foot for a couple of weeks. He got a boot to stabilize it. It's mostly well, and he just has a twinge now and then. 8. I'm watching the Cooking Channel on TV. They are showing pickle spears that are wrapped in bacon and then deep fried. I think I would like that. 9. I voluntarily stepped down one notch at work. Instead of being a Senior Records Tech, I am now a Records Tech II. Not as much responsibility. More things were being added on to the job, and I just decided I didn't want to do them. I don't know yet how it will affect my pay. I checked with someone in the know, and she didn't think it would affect my pay at all, or at least not very much. 10. Jen ordered a bunch of things online (shoes, clothes, odds and ends) and had them sent here for us to mail. We sent them out a week ago Wednesday and she got them on Friday. She was happy. She's been trying to call and talk for a few minutes on Saturday nights--her Sunday mornings before church. It's been great to hear so often. I know many more things, you know, but this is all I feel like writing. Catch you later!

The Victory

I have experienced some hard grief in my life. When my mom died, when my sister died and when my dad died are the main times. Before those deaths I hadn't realized how painful, how encompassing, how life-changing grief was. Grief affected my stomach, my chest, my heart, my appetite, my eyes, my thoughts, my responses, my ability to carry out my responsibilities. It was overwhelming and miserable. In remembering back to those deaths, grief still takes me by surprise at times. Not so hard or so thoroughly--but still makes me very sad for a while.

I think about the day of another death--the death of Jesus Christ. We now know the big picture about Christ's death--and His burial and miraculous resurrection--about the meaning and the effectiveness and the promise for the future for all who believe. But at that time the people who surrounded Christ including His disciples, His friends and His followers didn't have much understanding. Some understood parts of the plan. After all, Christ had told Him he would die and then be raised up again. But it's like their eyes were blurry and they couldn't see clearly.

So, Christ died on Thursday or Friday late afternoon. All His followers were broken hearted and extremely disappointed. They were sick with grief. They didn't know how life was going to continue. Many had thought Christ was the King and the Messiah, and now he was dead. There would be no kingdom, no freedom from Roman rule, no more taking care of their need for food. The great provider and teacher and THE Messiah was gone. How would they continue? How could things go back to what they had been before Christ came?

On Sunday morning some of the women went to the tomb where Christ was buried--terrible grief. The stone was gone and so was the body of the Lord. Later some of the disciples came to see if He was really gone. He was and the angel announced, "He is not here. Come see the place where the Lord lay."

I'm sure the light was breaking through the darkess of death and of their minds. Could it be true? It was true. Not only had Christ come back to life, but He would later show Himself to many of His followers.

The words of Scripture say it all? "Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory?" Christ won the victory. He completed the plan of salvation by his death, burial and His glorious, miraculous resurrection! Praise God for our blessed hope in Christ! Let us live our lives as if that was true--IT IS!!

Have a wonderful Easter. Remember what Christ did for us!

Where you at?

About 11 or 12 years ago I worked for the CSU book project for about a year and a half. There had been a flood in Ft. Collins when the river flooded mostly from water from further up the canyon. The library at CSU flooded and many books were ruined--1000s, maybe 100,000s. Each book had to be evaluated, and it had to be determined if part of the book was salvagable (sp?) and if pages could be replaced. If pages could be replaced and the book repaired, the copies of those pages were made by other libraries and then sent to the CSU book project where one aspect of the process was to take the bad pages out and replace them with the new pages.

Anyway, I said all that to talk about how people around the building (2 floors of a condemned dorm) communicated. The main people carried walkie talkies. The phrase that could be heard the most often was, "Where you at?" The lack of good grammar was a thorn in my ears and my brain. I guess it took too long to say, "Where are you?" Actually, I think mostly people didn't even think about the correct sentence.

In my own home, my husband and son play an online game together. They defeat aliens, destroy ships and planets and save the world regulary. From the living room I can't really hear distinctly what they are saying to each other (their computers are in separate bedrooms, but the doors are often open). But what I do hear very distinctly is, "Where you at?" I've tried to teach them the error of their ways, but alas they are stubborn. And I think they like to irritate me (surely not).

I guess...not certain, but I guess that if this is the worst thing to bother me, I've got a pretty easy life. Truthfully it's not the worst thing to bother me, but it may be in the top ten!!

Edgar and Audie

I have been fascinated with two very different individuals. I think I was a teenager when I first heard about Edgar Cayce. He was a man who claimed to "know" things. Other people believed he knew things as well. He was able to put himself to sleep while lying on a couch and then he would answer any number of questions about many topics. He seemed to know things from the past, the present and the future. He was a "psychic." Since the time of his death in 1945 his "prophecies" and "readings" have been collected along with books and articles written about him into a museum of sorts. From what I have read now he is even more well known than he was in his lifetime.

When I was a teen and reading about Cayce, I didn't really believe he had powers or abilities. I guess now as an adult, I've changed my thinking about him and others like him. I think that if they have abilities, they come from Satan. We know that God does not use people to prophesy since the Bible was written. We also know that back then there were people who "knew" things outside of God's influence and were called "witches." There was a woman in the New Testament who was used to make money for some men because she could "prophesy." After she trusted Christ as Savior, her abilities went away. God changed her and she could no longer be used by Satan.

While reading about Edgar is very interesting, I wouldn't think it would be wise to do an all-out study of him and his "readings." I believe the more we are fascinated by ungodly things, the more power they can have over us.

Another man who fascinated me in my life was Audie Murphy. I first became aware of him as an actor in black-and-white westerns and war movies. I found out he had been a World War II hero, and as a matter of fact he was the most decorated soldier of World War II, receiving 33 awards including the highest honors possible. He personally saved or directed the soldiers under his command to save many, many people during battle. He was a fearless fighter and an extremely accurate marksman.

Audie was put on the cover of Life Magazine as the most decorated soldier of the War where his picture was seen by James Cagney who invited him to Hollywood. He became an actor and acted in 44 movies, some with small parts and others as the lead. He had written his biography, To Hell and Back, and it was turned into a major motion picture with him as the reluctant star (he wanted Tony Curtis to play his part). It was Universal's top grossing movie until Jaws. I thought he was wonderful and made wonderful and inspiring movies.

Audie even wrote some country western songs, some of which became famous. He was an amazing man with many talents.

Because Audie Murphy was a small man when he tried to enlist in the service (5'5 1/2" and 110 pounds), he had a hard time getting into the service. Several of the armed services turned him down, but he was finally accepted into the Army. What an impact he had on many people's lives.

I think he is one of my personal heroes.

Frankenstein Revisited

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it wasn't a second head. Maybe it's where the Frankenstein screw fell out of my neck and the doctor had to replace it with stitches. I still have the stitches. I'm getting them out tomorrow. They have become a little bit irritating. The cut is almost healed. I'm just hoping my original head doesn't come off when the stitches are removed.

There was a man who wasn't happy with himself and so he decided to have his arms and legs removed so he could be more streamlined and perfect. However, once he got used to having no arms and legs, he realized he still wasn't happy. He went back for more surgery and had the doctor remove everything but his head. He really liked living this way. He just rolled everywhere he wanted to go. Even if he rolled into the gutter, he could just roll right back out and get to a better place.

One day he decided he was going to go a step further in his search for the ultimate existence. He went back to the doctor and asked him to remove everything but one eye. He thought he would have the very best view of the world if he only had an eye. He lived as an eye for awhile. It seemed to be a pleasant way to live. He had few distractions and had clear vision.

One day while he was seeing the world, a man with big feet was walking near him. While the man was seeking his own clear vision of the world, a bird in the sky distracted him and before he knew it he had stepped on the man who was only an eye.

The moral of this story is...the man should have quit while he was a head.

When You Lose a Second Head

For a number of months I have had a bump on my neck--some kind of cyst, I guess. It wasn't beautiful, but it wasn't terribly ugly either. A couple of weeks ago it became larger, and my husband (gracious man that he is) said it looked like a second head. It was very ugly and very painful. I decided it was time to go to the doctor and have it removed.

When the doctor saw my second head, she said I needed to be on antibiotics for a week before she worked on removing it. So I took antibiotics and it diminished in size and pain. Because it was still ugly, I kept it covered with a large band aid which had the added benefit of irritating my skin. So now I was sporting a second head and a skin irritation that made me look like I had been exposed to something like agent pink.

I went to the doctor again this past Thursday. After many little shots of anesthesia and after she worked on the head for about 50 minutes, it was all removed. Four stitches were added to seal the deal, and I was told to put cream on the site along with a bandage and to use paper tape to help the skin irritation.

Now three days later the whole thing is looking much better. The stitches aren't pretty, but they have reaped some sympathy for me here at home, and I think they'll do the same thing at work. The paper tape has not worked very well--it tends to migrate to other parts of my neck or onto the neck of my shirt. I think I will only wear a band aid when I'm out and about for just a couple more days.

I hope with the removal of my second head that I didn't lose any important brain cells. It didn't seem to know much anyway, so I think I'm good.

The moral of this story seems to be when you have a growth, have it taken care of before it morphs into something very painful and unpleasant. I probably won't learn that moral. I'm a great one to procrastinate. That's one of the rules I live by.

I Have a Dream

Before my husband and I had been married five years, I had a dream that we would celebrate our 5th anniversary by going to Hawaii. I had the same dream for the 10th, the 15th, the 20th, the 25th and maybe for a couple of others.

Then my dream changed. I decided I would rather go on an Alaskan cruise for one of our main anniversaries. I hoped to do that for a number of years. Then my dream changed.

Next summer we will have been married 40 years. What I'm hoping for now is to spend several days and nights in Estes Park in the beautiful Colorado mountains. That's a dream that matches my energies and motivations. I've seen Hawaii and Alaska and the whales on TV. I know it's not the same as going for real, but it's certainly much easier and definitely less expensive.

When I was younger I wanted to learn to play the violin and to go back to school to get an MA. Later I changed my wants to learning to play the guitar instead of the violin, and I'm finished with schooling, although I do think about taking a class online.

I still have the desire to write a book. But I do wonder if I wait a few years to actually write one, how all the new technology will affect that enterprise. Besides wanting to say something, I also want to make money. In the future will this dream be worth anything?

It's good to have dreams. It's good to be realistic. I do dream about living to be 95 like my grandma did, although that may take too much work and it may take too long!

Skirting the Issue

A true story

I was attending Bible college in Denver at least a few years ago now. Cinderella City, a mall in Englewood, was very new--probably a couple years old. I had gone to the mall by myself, and in the middle of the open floor space a petting zoo had been brought in.

What I remember the most were the baby goats. The were very cute and pretty active. I was bending over to pat some little guy, and suddenly I felt a tug on the back of my skirt. I turned quickly around. There was another little "precious" goat with the whole back of my skirt in its mouth. I yanked on it. It all came out very easily, but I was left with a very large (bigger than a frisbee) circle with a lovely green tint to it.

Of course I was embarrassed. If only someone else had been there with me--we could have smirked and laughed together. By myself I could only look around to see who was watching. There was no one as far as I could tell. I think I went and sat down to let the wet spot dry for a little while, and then I left the mall quickly like a prairie dog running for cover.

Good times and good memories.

The Lesson

She wasn't sure why she had done it. She really hadn't done it since that time she had been in the tree in the backyard. A bird had landed on the branch above where she was sitting high above the ground. It had said a few chirpy words to her and then had made a deposit on her black sweater and flown away. When she wiped it it off, it had smeared on her fingers in a white streak. She had then wiped it on the front of her shirt.

After she quickly climbed down the tree and run in the house to tell Mama, her mama hollered at her and told her she should not have wiped the poo with her hand but should have come inside and let her clean it off with soap and water. Now she had smeared it and had to change her clothes.

Ever since then when she got anything on her shirt, she just let it stay there until she could wash it off and scrub it with soap or cleaner. The time however, when she dropped spaghetti sauce on her white blouse, she had immediately reached up and wiped it with her hand. There now was a streak all down the front and it was nearly time for her to meet her boyfriend's parents. Now they would know who she really was.

There was always the second impression.

The New Year

So far, the new year feels pretty much like the old year. Same job. Same house. Save co-workers. Same family. Same me. I guess that's the main thing...the same me. I would like to make resolutions that, if kept, would change me for the better. Here's a possible list:

I will exercise everyday.

I will eat only healthy food in moderate amounts.

I will watch only television and movies that have good moral content with no violence, language or anything that would cause carnal thoughts.

I will vacuum something every day.

I will always do the dishes and wipe the counters after supper.

I will quit being a procrastinator.

I will witness to my co-workers weekly.

I will read my Bible every day and read it through every year.

I will paint my fingernails.

I will start writing my book.

And for good measure, I will strive to be perfect and not be satisfied with my imperfections.

But alas, that last one is the sticking point. For the most part, I'm okay with my imperfections. I don't expect perfection, and I don't even plan to strive for it. This is my life, and I'm okay with that.

Why spoil imperfection?