Choose to be offended

It was the ward party tonight & Don went by himself. He said when he got to the roast beef the server gave him a few scraps & asked if he wanted more. I said it obviously wasn't Nate serving. Then when he was getting plates for Nick, Mother & I, some guy said sarcastically, "Well, I won't pretend I'm eating for two." Don responded something about getting food for 3. He didn't know either one of the men. I hate to go to ward functions anymore since the ward boundaries have been changed. It's like we're still two different wards.

As I think about it, I can choose to be offended, which I was. But some people are just natural bumblers.

On the bright side, Jim & Donna, Keith & Onda met here & visited. They took Mother & Luana with them to Big J's for lunch. I slept through most of their visit because I felt so crappy. Don-Mike was so busy, he didn't see them.

The visitors

I love Facebook. Because of it I can connect with friends all over the U.S. When I was just a toddler, the Walborns moved to Preston from Ohio. So, their friendship spans almost 60 years. When their kids, Sylvia & Charles were in high school, they moved to Logan.

Their daughter Sylvia died a few years ago, 4 or 5 at least, & my sister Wanda died almost 40 years ago. But I connected with their son Charles on Facebook. Charlie lives in Georgia. I found out, through Facebook, that he was spending the summer with his folks, who are both in their mid-late 80s. I wanted to take Mother down to see them, but Charlie brought his folks up to see Mother today.

We went to Big J's for lunch. Is there anywhere else in Preston to go?

Charles and his folks, Bob & Loretta, with my mom. Mother ordered a fruit pizza from Pizza Villa. The rest of us had almost finished eating before Mother even got her pizza.

Look how all three of them are wearing red. Loretta has to have oxygen all the time. She is on 5 liters. Mother is only on 2.5 liters, but I think this is the first time Mother has worn her oxygen in public in Preston. But, hey, she was in good company.

I invited the boys to come up & have lunch with us. Don-Mike had the day off. They are in the booth behind me. I didn't get pictures of them. I should have.

After Walborns left, I took the opportunity to make a couple of calls I needed to & while I was on hold, Mother's sister Onda & her husband Keith walked in. They had been up to see Dorin. Luana walked across the driveway & so the 3 sisters got a chance to visit.

After Keith & Onda left, I was going to work on my DUP, but I was so tired, I laid down "just for a minute." I never felt like I ever fell asleep, but I didn't "wake" up til almost 8. I was one tired old lady.

Another manic Monday

in a long string of manic Mondays, sigh. Don woke me up this morning when he left at 7. I went back to sleep & woke up at 8:30 &, of course, was late for work.

I am thankful for a loving, helpful husband. He fixed dinner, picked up dog food & fed the dog. I worked another 11 hour day. It was nice to come home to a warm meal.

Tomorrow should be worse than today, ugggg. I have to work in the morning & then I have to go to DUP. I wish, wish, wish I had not volunteered to be the secretary of our camp. I need to have my head examined.

I did walk today. Only 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes. I walked from Big J's, where Nick & I had lunch, back to work at The Citizen.

Lent, Day 12

Last night I got to bed at 11:45, but I laid there awake for quite a while. I've been trying to do this biofeedback that Vicki, job-share partner, told me about. I'm getting pretty good at visualizing being in the swing in the front yard on a hot summer day, feeling the hot, silky dirt between my toes. I love that feeling. I don't like the feel of coarse grains of sand between my toes. I go to bed most nights with my feet & hands cold, so this helps me warm up.

I didn't get up until after 9 this morning. Remember, I'm supposed to be to work at 9 on Monday & Tuesday, sigh. I got to work at 9:55 today & I left at 11:55. Tuesday morning isn't so pressing, but Monday is.

Don-Mike came in at quarter to 12 to ask me what I thought of Nick's latest idea. This has been a pretty painless mission mode. Nick wanted a specific kind of X-box & he wanted it modified, but he didn't want to modify it himself for fear he would screw up. He looked on the internet & found a guy in West Jordan that modifies this particular model of X-box for $40. He called me & asked me what I thought. I said he ought to call the guy; $40 is certainly a lot cheaper than having to buy all the stuff & then ruin the console. So, I told Don-Mike I had encouraged him to call the dude in SLC.

Don-Mike said it was too cold for him to do any work on the house, so he was thinking about taking him. I said I wanted to go. We had some lunch & I called the guy to see if we were making a wild goose chase. He said he'd work us in. I told him we'd be there about 3. We left at 1 & made it to the gas station he told us to meet at by 3:05. Don-Mike drove his '06 Mustang.

It took about an hour and a half to do it, but Nick said the guy had to format his computer. Don-Mike & I sat in the car in the driveway & Nick was in the house with him. From the X-box dude, we went to see Frances Hatch. I had bought her some sugar-free candy for Valentine's Day & never sent it. Frances was the boys' day care provider when they were little & we lived in Bountiful.

We visited with her about an hour. Nick said as we left her house it was worth the trip just to see Frances. I have always thought that the move from Bountiful & tearing him away from Frances was the second stressor that brought bipolar on for him.

Don-Mike said he was glad to see that she lives in such a nice house. The railroad relocated her when they took her house and an acre of land in Woods Cross. He said he was always afraid that they had stuck her in a bad house & bad part of town. So, it was nice to see for ourselves that she lives in a nice home in a nice neighborhood.

I slept almost all the way back. I wanted to go to Chuck-A-Rama, but Nick didn't feel like it. He's had a sinus infection. Anyway, when I found out that Chuck-A-Rama had been voted down, I went to sleep, just past the 24th Street exit in Ogden.

We ate at Big J's in Richmond. Don, bless his heart, went over & heated some homemade soup up for Mother, stopped at the grocery store & bought some deli chicken for his own supper, then came home & fed the dog!! W00t!! W00t!! What a man!!!

Lent, Day 8

Thursdays are supposed to be my day. I had plans, big plans to pay bills, declutter & sew. Ummm, the best-laid plans of mice & men often go awry. Robert Burns sure had that right, even women's plans go awry, LOL.

I was sitting at the computer in my nightclothes this morning, working on Mother's bills when she called. She wanted the bath bench so she could take a bath. The home health aide was there, but Mother didn't think she could get down in the tub. I had not taken the bath bench over for a couple of reasons. One is that it was filthy, we've been using it for a shelf to put over the heat vent in the bathroom & we put the garbage can on top of it & a couple of other things, so I didn't want to lose that. Another thing is that the home health aides have been promising to bring in a bath bench & I thought it would be better than the one we have. It is metal & cold on your bum when you sit on it. It isn't wide enough for me. Mother's lost so much weight though, that I'm sure she had no trouble sitting between the handles. Mother bought it for Daddy & he was so tiny & frail, he had no trouble sitting between the handles.

I jumped & ran. I didn't even bother getting dressed. Then while I was still there, Arlene Wanner called. She couldn't remember Dr. Otrusinik's nurses name. He has 2, but I told her the names of the girls that were in the office yesterday. Arlene was coming out from having her protime taken, while we were waiting to have Mother's taken. She said she was bad, she'd write little notes on envelopes & then lose them. I told her I had a little book she could have. I'd come right home & take it over to her. Nick called on my cell phone while I was talking to Arlene on Mother's landline.

Nick was bored & wanted to go for a "little" ride. I told him I had promised Arlene I'd go over & I did. We programmed her cell phone so she can have one-touch dialing. Mother had told Arlene that I had programmed her cell phone so that she could just push one number & call people.

Anyway, Nick & I decided we'd see how far we could get up Logan Canyon. But first we had lunch at Big J's, paid the storage bill & then went to Logan & bought an adjustable bath stool for Mother. We got to the top of Logan Sinks & got stuck just off the road heading into the parking lot to the restrooms. The road had been slushy, but we still needed that restroom. He walked back into the restroom because we couldn't get into the parking lot. I didn't think I could make it that far. He backed onto the highway, flipped a U-ie & headed on out of there.

We stopped at Wal*Mart for the bathroom for me. I got a huge round pan for Mufasa from the pet dept. The dripper pan that Lynette had brought with him from Glendale is almost as flat as a pancake. The clerk asked me if I was going to bake a cake. Awfully big cake. I said no I was going to feed a dog. She said they just used a pie tin for their dog. I said that I'd been using a dripper pan, but the dog weighed almost 200 lb., & had stepped on it so many times, it wasn't holding food. I started getting a migraine in Wal*Mart, so I bought some ibuprofen as well.

Don met us after work & we went to Lynn's Audio & to Lowe's. I sat in the car, but Nick & Don went in. They bought a fluorescent light for over the stove, came home & Don changed the light & cleaned the cover. Nick used alcohol to take the dirt & grease off the fixture. OMG, I can see. I've been asking for a light for that fixture for months. Don-Mike turned it on & was so surprised. He said he was blinded by the light, LOL.

I had told Mother we'd go to Relief Society tonight if she felt like it. I called her to tell her I didn't feel like going, but she didn't answer the phone, either phone. So I got in the car & drove over to see if she was ok & to tell her I didn't feel like going. She was back getting ready to go. Even though she didn't feel like going, she had decided she'd go. I felt guilty that I didn't feel like going. I don't dare tell her I have a migraine. I told her when I had the last one. Arlene told me she is worried that I have another brain tumor. So, I just told her I thought I'd had too much sugar today. I probably have, but it was the migraine that did me in.

I got to bed at 1 again last night. I turned the computer off at 11:55. I woke up at 8:35 this morning & wrote myself a note, filled both sides of a 3x5 card of things I was going to do today. I had such grandiose plans & I lost the card. I wish I knew where I had put it.

Fire at Big J's

If you live in the Preston area, you know that Big J's was gutted in a fire the first part of October. If you don't live in the area, you may be surprised to hear it. I found a really cool blog called Preston Idaho Digital News. It is one I follow. They have some pictures of the Big J's fire on their blog. I have included that link here. I have mentioned it in passing, but never specifically said, "Big J's burned."

Don-Mikel is an employee of Big J's. Bob & Nancy Egbert, the owners of Big J's & Pizza Villa in Preston & Richmond, Utah, were so well insured that their employees' payroll is covered by their insurance. If the employee does not get another job, their salary is paid by the insurance.

More Big J's stuff

Don-Mike worked last week &has worked so far this week helping clean up after the Big J's fire. Today he's cutting the combination locks off the employee lockers in the bathrooms. The combinations were filed in the office.

There are so many little things you don't even think about that are lost in fire.

Today I walked into the kitchen & found a sheet of paper with Don-Mike's writing on it. He had documented an accident at the light on State & Oneida from several years ago. There was no date on it & so I assumed that it had just happened. I asked him about it & he said it happened several years ago.

My house is like a black hole. Little things get lost & every so often something will regurgitate to the top & you're wondering, "Where did that just come from?"

Talk about being led

Don-Mike was telling us yesterday that Nancy (Egbert, owner of Big J's) had just backed up all of her computer stuff LAST WEEK & it was stored off site. Which is a good thing, because the computers are "toast" because of the fire.