OK, I've Fought The Fight..And Gave In Today

Nap: A brief sleep, often during the day, to be unaware of imminent danger or trouble. Says Webster. I have often needed a nap, but would not succumb. It is a practice of old people, and I do not want to admit I'm getting OLD! Admit or not, it is glaring me in the face. Everyday, for months, the NAP has been beckoning me, noooooooo, I won't go.

Today, as most mornings, I awake around six o'clock. (Think this is a built in alarm from my fifty years of being in the workforce.) Sometimes I just roll over and sleep another hour or so, but not today. I make my usual pot of strong ass coffee and troll the internet. I have several blogs I follow, so I catch up on them. Go out and water my plants...make breakfast, and watch The View.

Lauren is out of school, so I ask her to go with me to pick up our 'repaired two wheeler weed eater'. We return around 2:00. I am getting sleepy, but fight it until 4:00, then think 'what the hell is up with this........go lay down'...I did, & when I woke up @5:30 I felt great. Got out the mower & manicured my acre for an hour or so. It was a great refreshing time out there on that mower......I think it was the NAP that did it. Maybe I will try it again.

Visited 'Papa King' Today

Vicki, Rileigh Shea, & I went to visit Papa King today. It breaks my heart to see him regularly losing weight & getting more frail each time I see him. He has always had a stocky build, and wore it well. A very good looking man. He is on his way to being 73 in October. We had a very nice visit, he had been in his yard preparing a 'canna bed' I think he said he had 50 bulbs to plant.....that's a lot of canna's, I'm a thinkin. I am going back in the morning to take him grocery shopping.........I will take his 'list' and he will wait in the car, as usual.........that's the drill. I am glad that I can do 'this chore' for him. One day I may be in the same dependable situation. Oh, Lord God, I can not even put that picture in my mind. I think I'll be one of those people that live well into the eighties & go out with a bang....do you hear me, dear Lord..........Please & Thanks, as barbara says........

A Gardener, I Am Not!

I have been spoiled most of my adult life when it comes to yard work and home maintenance. I do not like being 'responsible' for either one. Since retiring and moving to the countryside, both issues are a pain in my ass. Being in Property Management afforded me the opportunity and LUXURY of sending my 'maintenance men' to my home and 'fix' whatever was broken, or, manicure my lawn and flower gardens, at a whim. The same continued when I moved to Guam, and, again when I continued to manage The Lodge @Tiburon'. Now, it is a few years later, and here I am, sitting on two acres.........with no maintenance man to direct, no husband to help, no significant other, just me..........and, my Rileigh Shea! She loves to 'help her taotao out in the yard'. She will do anything to be outdoors. Today we planted a container of 'perennial wild flowers'....love, love, love wildflowers.....reminds me of living on the farm & going out into the pasture on summer days to pick 'bluebells', and other assorted wildflowers......stayed gone for hours.

I have planted a few beautiful trees in the past couple of weeks......a couple of huge weeping willows, a plum, and a 12' fountain cherry......watering, is another fun chore.............my garden hose won't reach one of them, so, it is a big deal for Rileigh to fill my pail over & over in order to water this tree. Maintenance Men, where are you? Speaking of maintenance men, my 'head maintenance man' from the Tiburon Lodge called me today to say 'hello', and pass along good thoughts'....thanks, Armando. Employment in Glorious California is not looking so glorious. He has job security, but said it is getting noticeably worse in his area. I had no answers for him. I have few for myself. This recession is pretty scary. Where is my BIG Stimulous Check!

Hate it when 'habitual' kicks in

We are all creatures of habit, all of us. I went to visit my best friend this weekend. We were having a drink out on her deck, and discussing all that needed to be discussed between us. She is still in 'The Work Force', and I am not, so I enjoy her tales of war, err, work........ Friday is 'casual dress day' at her place of employment, and evidently my friend wears the same casual pants each Friday. I don't think she was aware of her habit, (I know she wasn't) until a casual function was on the horizon, and a co-worker exclaimed.......'just come in your 'friday pants'..........see how we are.........and are not aware that no one else notices?
THEY NOTICE!

What is this severe throbbing @the end of my legs?

Oh, that........that would be my feet. Having had the experience of shopping with my daughter since she was a teenager, you would think I would have learned my lesson by now, some thirty plus years later. But nooooooooo, I'm a slow learner.

Vick's sister in law, Shelly, is getting married June 14th, and it is a big deal in the Martin household. Shelly waited a long time to find her true love. The whole family will dress in Shelly's 'colors', and yesterday was the outing to find a dress for my thirteen year old granddaughter, Lauren. She is a tomboy and has been heavy into soccer since she was a small child. Her interests now include track and basketball. She is NOT into dresses, so this was reason enuf to tag along on this excursion. I bought her a beautiful crimson dress when she was five and was in her Christmas program. I doubt that she has worn a dress since then. Kinda like her taotao, I haven't worn a dress since 1983.

So, we head out around 2:30, with Rileigh Shea in tow, (she's three). Yes, she IS THREE, and that is about all I need to say about that. The first store was a total flop. I think the realization of actually wearing a dress was soaking in with Lauren. She turned her nose up at all suggestions, may have tried one on....and, looking @dress shoes was a whole other issue. And, let the games begin with Rileigh and taotao playing 'hide & seek' under the racks of clothing! Well, I'm not really playing, more like chasing, and scolding. I'm already getting a 'twitch', and realizing this was going to be a stressful outing, to say the least. Nothing there, so on to our second store, a small boutique. Lauren finds a dress in the right color, and kinda likes it, looks at me & says 'okay, taotao, I think we're done...this one is okay...c'mon, Mom, lets take this one'. But the shopper Vicki is, thinks we need the clerk to hold it for us while we check out yet another store.......off we go to our third department store. Oh My God!, it was like walking into a huge garage sale as far as I was concerned (Kohls). By the time we leave there without even finding a single garment to suit Lauren, it must be around six o'clock. Next stop is Gordmans department store & it was worse than Kohls. Then on to a shoe store........had good luck & found a cute pair of black patten leather flats that Lauren agreed to wear, so, back to our boutique. I'm thinking this is going to be quick because the clerk has our dress on hold. Wrong! Vicki & Lauren decide to check out the casual sports clothing. My swollen feet are hurting and, Rileigh is getting more out of control, so she & I go outside for fresh air. After thirty minutes or so of us 'playing' outside, I hear a horn honk, and it's Vicki & Lauren. I hobble to the curb & climb in. 'Mother, are your knees hurting'? (I had two knee replacements done four years ago). 'No, my knees are in great shape, but my feet & ankles are turning numb!', says I. Since being retired, I have been super lazy in the exercise department, and boy that laziness was rearing its ugly head yesterday. 'Are you hungry? I thought we would stop & get something to eat'. 'Well, yes, as a matter of fact I am, I skipped breakfast for a pot of strong ass coffee, so then I wasn't hungry by lunch time'

Off to the Deli we go and order a great meal. Miss Rileigh Shea is getting acquainted with all the customers in our area, 'hi, what's you name? I Rileigh Shea Maatin' etcetera, etcetera. It felt very good to sit for a spell & enjoy our good food.

We leave the Deli, and by now it has to be around seven thirty or eight o'clock. We are driving along and when I recognize a street sign, I'm thinking 'this is not the way home, we're going south, not west'. 'Vicki, are we going south to Norman'? 'Yes, Mother, we're on our way to Dillards, Lauren wants some 'Ed Hardy' perfume' 'You have got to be shit'in me......look @the time'! 'Oh, calm down, Mother, it's good for you to get out once in a while'.........We're in Dillards trying on more clothes..this time for Vicki. Finally I insist Lauren purchase her perfume so we can leave.........'the cashier's are counting out their cash registers for Christ's sake'.........let's go!....Rileigh is bugging me to take her back to the 'gum ball' machine where we stopped when we first arrived....'taotao, you got more money? Bebe want's more gum'.....Vicki & Lauren are laughing at me for my impatience, & I am telling them 'this is it...never invite me on another shopping trip'! We finally leave the store (have to, it's closing time)..........but it's not the end, we stop at McDonalds for McCafe for us & John & ice cream cones for Lauren & Rileigh........and, finally head home.

I drag my crippled swollen feet into the house, It is 10:05! Over seven hours of walking around department stores! I had stripped my bed & washed my sheets before leaving on our excursion, my mattress pad & un-pillowcased pillows were waiting. I didn't even bother to make my bed, I just crawled in. It was wonderful just to get off my aching feet. Then the McCafe coffee started to 'kick in'. I had to hobble to the bathroom every hour or so until three o'clock.

I love you, my darling daughter, but please do not invite me on another shopping trip for at least six months. I promise I will get out more, but in my own fashion........your muete

Two Shorts and One Long

Well, since I am on the topic my home town of Reliance, South Dakota, I am having fond memories of 'how it was waaay back then', circa 1945. I am remembering when Mama & Daddy first moved to the farm that is forever imprinted into my mind. It was three miles south of town. I am thinking they had (two) already constructed shells put in place..(thinking graneries), both positioned into a short 'T' shape. I am remembering 'Junior Schelle and Russell Black' coming out during the summertime to help Daddy construct a house from these two buildings. There was no plumbing to be concerned with, nor electricity. We had an 'outhouse' for a toilet, and lamps to give us lighting during the evenings and nite time. We were very happy and content. In our winter time, we sometimes placed food in snowbanks. We used an 'ice box', where we placed a huge block of ice into it's compartment, to keep food 'cool'...hence, the icebox. I can't remember the kitchen stove, it must have been wood burning, or possibly propane gas. We had one heating stove in our living room. Our humble home consisted of a kitchen, living room & two bedrooms, probably no more than eight or nine hundred square feet, and by the middle of the decade, they had four girls. We had a community telephone line with an 'operator'. All calls went thru this operator. We were on a 'country line'. Our signal was : two short rings & one long ring. (that's when we knew it was for our house), but, being on a country line meant that everyone else on this line could 'listen in' to all conversations. So, this was a good 'gossip' tool. And, believe me!, Everyone listened in.

I remember Mama getting her 'Singer sewing machine' while we lived there, (I have it @my home today) & remember that she and about three other ladies traveled to Mitchell, SD (which was 80 or 90 miles away) periodically to 'take sewing & tayloring' lessons. Irene Cullen was one of the ladies. Mama turned out to be a wonderful seamstress. She made all of our clothes, including our coats, & Daddy's suits. She sewed most of her life. I loved my Mama unconditionally all of her life, no matter how many up's & down's we encountered. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, MAMA.

barbara, you are allowed to make any corrections to 'my memory'.......I know yours is better than mine.

Reliancehigh.com

About three months ago, my sister barbara coerced me into helping her create a 'highschool website'. Sounded like a 'good idea', so, I agreed to help to put one together for our little town of Reliance, South Dakota. We now have the website up and running, and, if I have to say so myself, it looks pretty damn good. The only problem is, is that not that many people have actually 'signed up'. Oh, we have hundreds of 'looky lou's', but only a few actually getting involved. No one presently living in our 'old home town' has logged on. I have a feeling it may have something to do with a negative letter I wrote to the 'Town Board' after visiting a reunion in the summer of 2008.

My cousin, my sisters & I were making our 'around town & country drive', doing the 'remember when thing' and making our personal comments about what we were seeing. My cousin goes, 'we all need to write a letter to the town board about the condition of Reliance'. We all agree, and when I returned to Oklahoma, I fire off my letter. As it turns out, I am the ONLY ONE to do so. I'm certain I offended the whole town. I hope I am not Tarred and Feathered the next time I return, or barred from the next reunion. I just have not learned the meaning of 'Diplomacy' in all my years.

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned..........................once again. Reliance, forgive me.

Death's Door and Heaven's Gate

I received disturbing news today from my dear friend, Katy. She has been the caretaker for her sister for the past several years, because she has COPD, and other related illness'. Now she is in a downward spiral with her health, has become very thin and frail, however, I know she has a wonderful relationship with God Almighty. Truth known, Trela is probably more comfortable with her situation than Katy is. Isn't it amazing how the person that is about to leave this earth, is more at peace with their departure, than the people 'left behind'. The Hospice nurses have said her sister seems to be giving up', and, I say, why not give up, look what she has to look forward to in God's Glorious Kingdom! I was at death's door when I was quite young. I had a heart attack & was rushed to the hospital. My daughter was only four years old. As I lay in intensive care, hooked up to a monitor, I hear this noise, and when I look up at the monitor and see the flat line. I remember my ONLY thought was 'Oh, it is true, your heart stops before your brain'....Hail Mary full of Grace.......I had no fear of dying, my only concern was getting to Heaven. May God Bless and comfort both of my friends.

Common Sense Sometimes Just Disappears

Just sent Sindi a note inquiring about her 49th birthday that just passed last week, and had a flashback to my 49th.

Looking back, who was that dumbass? At the time, I had fallen head over heels in love with a Chamoru (native of guam) a year or so before my 49th. He was my Julio Iglesias, & I was his Queen of effing Sheba. After his many trips to Oklahoma, and my many trips to Micronesia, I made this brilliant decision (with plenty of persuasion on his part), to re-locate to this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. Throwing caution to the wind, leaving a great job I'd held for nearly 15 years, my beautiful home, my adult daughter, friends, and all that was familiar, my mind was made up. In preparation, I attended & graduated from a local Travel Agent's School, took Japanese lessons, pulled the monies from my 401K, and purchased my airfare one month after turning 49.

I received a lot of advice from friends, some positive, some negative, and some blatantly stating 'You have lost your ever lovin mind'! Turns out they were all right. There I was, very pretty, very thin, and, very stoooopid, only I didn't recognize the stupid part at the time.

Regrets? yes, some. Amends? yes, I made several. Happy times? about 75/25.

I stayed eleven years and loved the island life, never got 'rock fever', and would still be there if it was just a little closer. Julio & I went our separate ways, but he will never leave my heart, which may cause some to wonder about my ever lovin mind, however, I HAVE made some strides in the common sense department....moshi, moshi, & domo arrigato,Ohioyu, & konichiwa is about all the Japanese I remember, but my geography & airport destination icons are still intact. sayonara, Julio ni guahan