SO GLAD TO BE HOME!

Well, the trip to South Dakota was not a very good experience for my fourteen year old grand daughter, and, not much better for her Taotao. Maybe we had to many 'expectations'. The car travel 'up north' was fun. We made many stops & our driver (Sindi) was a great companion. Lauren & her cousin Taylor met for the first time. Lauren is 14, a soccer enthusiast, and all about sports. Taylor is 15, and a girly girly, and all about make up & all that implys. The first 500 miles, they were in seperate seats & quiet. The second 500 miles, they bonded somewhat. We spent our first nite in the Black Hills & the next day was a great day to explore Mount Rushmore, The Custer State Park, & The Badlands of South Dakota. What a glorious site. They really had a good time @the badlands, and I think they will always remember that experience. We then arrived at my sister's home for a few days. Day one: Sindi's car was in trouble & needed attention. (sent to the garage). I felt stranded at that point....

I wanted to show my granddaughter so many things, but transportation was limited. My Sister had a house full of company that weekend (Fathers Day) and she was tired. Then we arrived. I think we were too much for her. She did entertain us. We played scrabble (one of her favorite games), not mine, by the way....she always beats me....but my grand daughter likes the game.

Our trip south was uneventful. Lots of stops, lots of drinks & chips, lots of silence, and lots of Wah Hoo's when we reached the Oklahoma Border.......You have to be an OKIE to understand reaching the Oklahoma State Line.........................

HEAD'N FOR THE HILLS....THE BLACK HILLS

Sixteen hours ago, sitting @my computer, I couldn't get in a standing position. I had no hope of making my long planned trip to South Dakota on friday morning, but oh, the miracle of medicine!

About a week ago I was walking across the room & felt a little twinge in my lower back...just one of those 'gotcha' pricks. Hmmmm? what was that all about? Sunday morning, while bent over putting lotion on my feet, I feel it again as I was straightening up. Vicki comes over monday evening & I tell her I've been getting a little hitch in my getalong for a few days. 'Where does it hurt mom'? 'right here', showing her the location. 'Oh, I know, I get those every once in a while too' she tells me. Tuesday I'm reaching for a cookbook on top of my refridgerator and let out this loud grunt and a lot of #&!*%@&#. 'What happened Taotao'? says Lauren......'oh, nothing, a pain just shot thru my back, I'm okay'. Yesterday (wednesday) I could tell all was not right with the world & taotao when it was time to roll out of bed.....and, I mean ROLL. I could not stand erect for a few minutes. Lauren & Rileigh arrive & she offers to go to her house & get me some ibuprofen. My God! I don't even have ibuprofen in my empty medicine cabinet (meaning a corner in my kitchen cabinet IF I did take medication). I take the medication & within thirty minutes, the pain subsides.

Taotao, will you drive me over to my friend Sara's house, we're going to hang out today.....sure. After lunch, I put Rileigh down for her nap around 2:30 & I fall asleep as well. I wake up within thirty minutes to use the bathroom......OUCH! my ibuprofen is wearing off...OUCH, OUCH...I don't think I can get up! I have to get up! I hobble over to a straight back chair @my computer, I'm in severe pain & crying. I have a very high tollerance for pain, folks, so I know I'm in big trouble. I'm sitting with my back to the phone & can't turn around to reach it! Shit!, I can't even take a deep breath. I look down @my feet & legs......oh good, I can move them. I sit here helpless. Miss independant me is helpless! Finally I realize I can use the computer, so I email Papa (John's dad) with a SOS & I forward it on to Sindi, just in case they are on their computers. They were not. I take my stapler & knock the phone out of its stand, so I can reach it & call John to leave a voice mail because I know it's not time for him to get up (works nites). Then I leave a voicemail on Vicki's phone (can't receive phone calls @work), I call Lauren to leave a voice mail...(she usually just text messages)...Of course, I don't know how to do that.....Oh, I know how to type the words, I just don't know how to send them........Then I called Brittany and she saved me. She texted her mother, offered to come over (lives 40 miles away) & she called Jim & Sara (John's folks, who live about 3 miles away). They came over immediately, woke up John, Sara brought more ibuprofen to put in my system so the guys could get me up off the chair. Not a pretty site, guys....

Sara makes some phone calls, Vicki will meet Jim & I at the hospital ER, Sara stays back to watch Rileigh as John has to get ready for work. Jim transports me to a brand new community hospital....I was very impressed with everyone we came in contact with (sorry about the preposition @the end of my sentence, Mrs. Anderson.)

Xrays were taken as well as one of those fifty question history inquiries.....The good Doctor's diagnosis: Arthritis....my #1 & 2 lumbar vertibra are bone to bone. But, he said since I've had no problems with my back since 1995 (when I lived on Guam & was told then that I needed back surgery)is a good sign & the fact that (4) ibuprofen gave me relief earlier in the day was a good sign. So I will make an appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon & take from there.

The good Doctor said he was prescribing steroids to reduce the inflamation, loritabs for pain, & a muscle relaxer......and, that I should be good to go on that SD trip.....use my own good judgement 'Good judgement' is something new to me...........where was it thirty years ago! I'm anxious to show Lauren Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, the Corn Palace & the little town where I was raised.

So, the moral of this story: 'Here's Your Sign'

OH MY GOD, JULIE IS THAT YOU?

Had a wonderful surprise @the supermarket today, and no, it wasn't the price of pork. Early this morning I took Gerald for his procedure @the VA hospital. We both left our cell phones home, so I didn't get to meet up with Katy as I usually do. We had a good lunch, then off to the supermarket......no list today, Gerald went in with me & got on one of those driving baskets. We're coming down an isle & as I look up, there is this pretty lady giving me a big grin & stops in her tracks. I could feel a big hug coming my way...'Julie, is that you'? 'Yesssss, fran, it is'. We were both elated to see one another & I had a hundred questions, & got a lot of information in a short time. We will continue on the phone next week.

Julie was around 12 the last time I saw her. Her mother (Mae) worked for me @Railhead as a maid for years.....probably ten at least & I was close to hers & her husband John's family. Mae is from Ireland and all that entails, John is from Oklahoma & all that entails, They were very much in love and it showed. It was nice to see. In fact it was Mae's sister in law who sold me my acreage on Guam. All the years I knew Rosa, I thought she was a Mexican lady until I made the announcement I was moving to Guam & found out she was Chamorro.

Julie informed me that her parents still live in Bethany, (same address), & that her brother, Kevin lost his first wife & is getting married again Saturday, her sister Sheila is coming in from Illinois, & blah, blah, blah........I find it amazing that we could recognize each other twenty-one years down the road. Especially since she was only twelve, and I was a size 10.........oh, ya, now I remember...she did know me as being as fat as I am now, because I was this size from the time she was four to about ten.................

FRUSTRATION with LACK of customer service

I'm getting old and frustrations should be 'few and far between', however, sometimes they are not. Yesterday I was making a 'follow up' phone call for a loan I had applied for about ten days ago. The application said I would get a 'deny or approve' within seventy two hours'. I waited, and waited, to no avail. So yesterday I called them back...'Hello, this is fran king, I applied for a loan........excuse me, Mrs. King, let me transfer you to that department'........Hello, this is Kathy........'oh, hi Kathy, this is fran king, I applied for a loan about ten days ago & someone was supposed to get back to me in 72 hours... is the loan for the mortgage, automobile, or personal department? says Kathy'....I tell her, 'one moment please,...'what is your SS#' ? I tell her. 'OK, Mrs. King, I will transfer you to Albert, he has your file, & will be able to help you'. 'Thanks'. 'Hello, this is Albert (chomp, chomp, chomp) can I help you'? 'Yes, this is fran king, & blah blah blah, 'excuse me, (chomp chomp) what is your SS#'? I repeat it again. 'Well, let me see, chitch ta chitch ta chitch ta chitch.......'oh ya, here it is', chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp...'didn't I send you an email''? 'No, I haven't heard from anyone' says I, and wanted to scream in the phone 'Don't you get an effing lunch break'? 'Oh, it's been transferred to so & so department, we will get back with you in a couple of days, chomp, chomp, chitch ta chitch ta chitch'! 'Thanks for calling SOB BANK'. What in the world has happened to CUSTOMER SERVICE? There is none. To make matters worse: today I needed to mail in the second half of my property taxes & decided to go to the Post Office to send them off as I did not have a stamp, (BECAUSE I pay all my bills online) I paid the first half of my property taxes ONLINE 12/31/08, but when I tried to pay the second half(+ interest cuz I'm late) I was informed that I could NOT. 'Why is that? I do not understand, if I can pay the first half, or pay IN FULL on 12/31, then why can't I pay the second half online'? says I. "Because that's OUR RULES" says she........OMG, that explains everything! So I drive over to the P.O. (approximately four miles) & BELIEVE THIS OR NOT... our POST OFFICE DOES NOT HAVE A STAMP MACHINE!........A POST OFFICE WITHOUT A STAMP MACHINE, CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? ..SHIT! I ain't EVEN believing this.........maybe it's a PODUNK, OKLAHOMA thang........

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!