What is the Truth?

Posted on by
Reply

This short story came about rather suddenly.  I like writing but it’s really for my own entertainment or my sanity even.  Sometimes I get a story or idea in my head, and I just need to put it on paper. 

This short story came to me after going to the movie theater during the big COVID shutdown during the summer of 2020.  As usual, my husband wanted to go see this movie which was an action/ espionage/time-travel movie.  It was one of those movies that you couldn’t really follow and when it was over you didn’t really know for sure what you had seen. 

Riding home in the car I got this idea.  What if I took the essence of the movie and wrote a little story that would be a cross between a sci-fi movie, the Wizard of Oz and the Hallmark Channel.

What could go wrong there?

And so, it begins

I always seem to get up before everyone when I visit Arkansas.  I try to be very quiet when I get up but Harper the “puggle” always knows and Molly my granddaughter usually knows.  I stumble into the kitchen to make coffee and I hear my daughter Loni let Harper out of their room.  “Good morning Harper,” I say and bend over and scruff her neck.  Then I open the back door so she can go outside to do her thing.  I popped the k-cup into the Keurig and I am on my way to normal.  And there is she is, Molly.

“Good morning Mimi.  Are we going to sit outside and have coffee this morning?”

“I think it would be a great morning to sit outside and have coffee this morning, but I think I’m the only one having coffee.”

With a roll of her eyes Molly replies, “I know that Mimi.”

So there we were Mimi, Molly and Harper.  It is very quiet outside, it’s very early.  I’m not sure the birds are even awake yet.  I take a few sips of coffee and Molly says, “Mimi, tell me how you and Papa met.”  She’s heard this story before, but she always likes to hear it again.  “OK Molly.”  I reply.

You know it really is a great story.  I met Keith online in 2003.  Scandalous I know.  Online dating was kind of a new thing back then and not near as sophisticated as it is today with its algorithms and all.  Back then you put in your zip code, told Yahoo Personals how far outside of your zip code you wanted to look, what age of a person you were looking for and if you were a woman looking for a man or a man looking for a woman.  I don’t recall if it asked me if I was a woman, looking for a woman.   Anyway, once you put in these few items and hit enter, you were shown pictures of people that fell within the criteria you entered.  I really wasn’t serious about finding someone using this method, but I was curious.  Would it even show me anyone that I could be remotely interested in?  YES, IT WOULD.

There he was.  This very handsome professional looking man.  No names were given, but if you clicked on the picture, it took you to their profile information.  What they like and what they are looking for in someone to date.  Keith called it his “marketing plan.”   I read over the profile several times and thought, this guy sounds perfect.  So why is he single and looking for someone online?  Wait, I’m single and I’m looking at people online.  I could look at him all I wanted and second guess myself, or I could make the best investment of my life and spend $19.95 to email him.  Yes, that’s what I said, just $19.95 to email him.  The rest is history as they say.

I always enjoy my visits to see the Milligan’s.  We had a great last day and I was headed home the next morning.  Keith was working part-time for a few more months, so on the weeks he works, I head to Arkansas to spend a little time with my daughter and her family.

It’s quiet in the house now.  The kids have school tomorrow and are sound asleep.  I have retired to my room to start packing.  Once the kids leave for school in the morning, I will head back to Oklahoma.  About then my evening call comes in.

“Hello my wife, when are you coming home to me?”

“I’ll be on the road by 9.  So when will you be coming home to me after work?”

“I’ll be home at 4:38 p.m.”

“Great! You will find me wearing your favorite outfit and we will see where things go from there.”

“Excellent.” He responded. 

We talked for a few more minutes catching up on each other’s day when I asked,

“How are my fur baby girls?” 

“They miss their mom. I miss their mom.”

“I miss you guys too.  Give Daisy and Ellie kisses from me and I will see you all tomorrow.”

“What time will you be home?”

“If I can really get on the road by 9 a.m., I should get home about 3.”

“Well drive carefully.  I’ll be watching your progress on the 360 app.”

“I have no doubt.”

“See you tomorrow my love.  I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Well, it’s Monday morning and I’m up early again, coffee in hand when Max my grandson pops into the room.  He is never up early, but he wanted to see me before he had to go to school.

“Mimi, I hate it when you have to go home.”

“I know buddy.  I’ll see you next month and we will go play more pickleball.  I think we should try out the new courts over in Sherwood.”

“Sounds great!  Be careful going home today.”

“Always,” I replied.

I kiss everyone bye as they head off for school.  I send Keith a little text message telling him I am on my way.  The usual, “be careful” response is returned.  I have the second half of my audiobook to listen to on my drive home.  I love a good John Sanford book.  Lucas Davenport is up to his eyeballs as usual in some federal crime spree.  I’m sure he will figure it all out and save the day.  We all like happy endings, don’t we? 

The drive was uneventful as usual, and I pulled into my little town in southern Oklahoma at 3:05 p.m.  I was stopped at the light at Commerce and Veterans Boulevard waiting to turn left when I called Loni to tell her I had arrived home safely.  We were chatting away via the car phone when my light turned green.  I moved forward into the intersection to turn left when I saw something out of the corner of my eye to the right.

An Interview with a Little League Baseball Player

Posted on by
1

Last summer while visiting the grandkids, I got the opportunity to watch my grandson Max play some baseball and attend my granddaughter Molly’s annual dance recital. While I was watching Max play ball, which I love to do, it reminded me of when I spent countless years watching his Uncle Craig play little league ball.

I know exactly what my daughter goes through, because I have been there. It’s a lot of time and all you want is for them to do good, have fun and feel good about how they played. And of course, you want them to win every game. My daughter, Loni, has an added level of stress, Max plays in a competitive travel league. AND ITS BIG BUSINESS.

Max and his Uncle Craig have some similar traits, that I see especially when I watch Max play baseball. It’s crazy when you think about how ingrained some genetics are. Max and his Uncle Craig live 400 miles apart and don’t get to see each other very much, so when I see the similarities, you know its genetics. Both are very serious about the game, are hard on themselves when they think they have messed up, overthink things and are exceptional athletes. One of Craig’s favorite things to do was to steal bases. He was fast and his coaches took advantage of that. Max also loves to steal bases and he’s fast too. When I watch Max steal a base, it’s almost like reliving my time as a baseball mom.

So last summer when I was in Arkansas watching Max, it got me to thinking. I know Max is a typical 12-year-old boy and can be very cooperative or argumentative. He likes to procrastinate at home and he’s not quick to follow his parents’ instructions, most of the time. Again, typical pre-teen. It got me to wondering, how does Max respond to his coaches when they give him directions? What better way to find out than to interview him? So, I sat him down in the dining room following one of his games and did just that.

THE INTERVIEW

  • Mimi: When you are standing on home plate waiting for the ball to come, what does through your mind?
  • Max: I’m mainly thinking if it’s a fast pitcher, I aim for right center. A slower pitcher, I aim for dead center.
  • Mimi: You have enough control to put the ball where you want to?
  • Max: Yes.
  • Mimi: When you are standing on home plate waiting for the pitch, I notice that there is a coach on third base giving you signs. Is he telling you what to do?
  • Max: Yea.
  • Mimi: So how does that mess with you? What if you get up there and know this is a fast pitcher and you want to hit to right center and he tells you to bunt? What do you do?
  • Max: I bunt.
  • Mimi: When you are on base and you are stealing, are you listening to a coach to tell you when to go or are you just going on your own?
  • Max: He gives me the sign and I go.
  • Mimi: When you are standing out there in the outfield, I know it can get very boring sometimes. When that big fly ball comes right for you, what’s going through your mind?
  • Max: Step back, turn my shoulders and run backwards.
  • Mimi: So, you have a plan?
  • Max: Yes.
  • Mimi: What happens if it is coming between you and the guy over in left field?
  • Max: I’ll call off the left fielder if it’s closer to me, but if it’s closer to him, he will call me off.
  • Mimi: What do you think the hardest position to play is?
  • Max: Definitely catcher, especially wearing the gear all day in the heat of the summer.
  • Mimi: What would be the best position to have?
  • Max: Whatever position you are good at is the one that is the best position.
  • Mimi: What is your favorite thing about playing?
  • Max: Having fun with all my friends
  • Mimi: And the worst thing?
  • Max: Having to get up at 8:30 in the morning.

MY TAKE AWAYS?

Max

To my surprise and delight, Max showed me that he is a very mature young man with a great head on his shoulders. He understands teamwork and follows the directions of his coaches. They have taught him the basic skills of the game and he follows them when told. He has confidence in his game. There was no sign of him second-guessing anything

I was thrilled to hear that his favorite part about playing is having fun with his friends. Not shocking was that he didn’t want to get up at 8:30 to have to go play. I know he has had to get up much earlier than that when they travel but he’s probably still in a fog and doesn’t remember that.

I will travel back to Arkansas this summer to watch Max play again, but this time, I know his game plan and that he’s got it. Who knows, I might need a follow-up interview with the future major league baseball player.

Pickleball in Punta Gorda

Posted on by
Reply

My husband and I started a new tradition when I turned 60 two years ago. Let’s go somewhere fun and play pickleball for my birthday. When I hit the big 60, we traveled to Las Vegas to play at the Plaza. For those of you that don’t know, the pickleball courts are on the pool deck on about the 5th floor. Shockingly, it was pretty chilly in Vegas on December 30. But we did find one other couple who was visiting from Canada, and we had a few good matches, weather allowing.

Then Covid hit and we did not travel anywhere for my birthday the following year. So, we still have Covid, but things seem a bit more flexible. In September we started planning for my 62nd birthday pickleball adventure. We have both been vaccinated and boosted and were ready to go. But this time, let’s go somewhere we are pretty sure will be warm and beautiful. Let’s try Punta Gorda, Florida!

Getting there however, proved to be a bit of a challenge. As I said earlier, we made these plans in September, hotel reservations and flights. We got our bags packed on Sunday for our Monday morning flight. Got up at 6 a.m. Monday morning to learn that our flight had been canceled. Remember seeing all those flight cancellations after Christmas on the news? Yup, ours was one of those. At least we hadn’t gotten to the airport, which is two hours away.

My husband couldn’t book a flight that day, so he found us a flight for Tuesday. The non-stop flights were all gone, so we would have to fly from Dallas to Charlotte, North Carolina and change planes to get to Ft Myers. DFW Airport is a very large place and we have always parked at the Remote North parking lot. It’s just easier than parking at one of the terminals. We arrived at the North Remote Parking to see that it was closed. We have never seen that. Should have known that was a bad sign. We drove into the airport and parked at the terminal our plane was assigned to at 8:15 a.m., checked in and boarded our plane right on time. Exciting. After sitting on that plane for about 45 minutes it was announced that we had a bad tire and that it would take at least an hour to replace it. That means, we will miss our connecting flight. Then they made us all get off the plane.

Lots of people on the plane had connecting flights and now had to find other flights, including us. We found a nonstop from Dallas to Ft Myers, but it didn’t leave until 3:55 p.m. We spent a lot of time Monday wandering the airport all masked up. We boarded the plane on time, and we sit, and we sit, and we sit. About an hour later, we were told that the plane had a mechanical problem, and we all had to get off. Really? Again? This time they are going to find us another plane.

All 173 of us had to go from Terminal A to Terminal D via Skylink. We boarded our new plane, and we were finally on our way. It just took one car, two trains and three planes. The sun was setting, and the day was pretty much done in Dallas. Next up, Punta Gorda.

Leaving Dallas as the sun sets

By the time we landed in Ft Myers, got our rental car and drove up to Punta Gorda, it was 10:30 p.m., and we were exhausted. Tomorrow would be a new day.

We got up, ate a little breakfast and headed out to find the Pickleplex in Punta Gorda. This is a fantastic pickleball venue with 16 beautiful courts. All the courts were full when we arrived, and they were already “stacking paddles.” We signed up, paid our $5 guest fee, stacked our paddles and waited our turn. We played each of the three mornings we were there and met some really nice people. They were very welcoming, and everyone was around our age and skill level. Mostly retired peeps who were wintering in Florida or who had moved to Florida. And why not? The weather was fantastic. I think it was 82 each day we were there, no wind and no rain. It was perfect.

We have never been to that part of Florida, and we know that we want to go back. Lots to see and do besides pickleball. We ate at two very yummy restaurants; Hemingway’s and Carmello’s Italian for my birthday. Carmello’s may be our new favorite restaurant. We had lunch at the Village Fish Market overlooking the bay and took walks along the water. The margarita I had from the bar at the top of the Wyvern Hotel packed quite a punch, but I am a bit of a lightweight. Thank you, Punta Gorda, for your hospitality. Maybe next time we bring the RV and stay for an entire month.

The retirement countdown continues, less than five months to go.

Life with Daisy – Day Four

Posted on by
1

Well sadly I’m way behind in posting about our new baby Daisy. She is now ten months old and we have a playmate for her that is 5 months old. Wow, how time flies when you have new dogs in the house. I’m going to try and catch you up on our “dog” adventures. Let’s start with this one, when Daisy had been with us a whole four days…..

Today we will begin our 4th full day with Daisy.  All 2.9 pounds of her arrived around 6 p.m., Thursday night.  What a little doll.  I don’t believe I have ever had a dog that small.  She was kind of quiet and seemed a bit shy.  At a little over seven weeks old, this will be the first night away from everything she has ever known.  What can go wrong there?

We have been planning to receive our new baby for three weeks now.  Her special area was all ready.  We had her food, bed, baby blankets, toys, pee pads.  So just four hours after she arrived, it was time to go to bed.  Now the hard part begins.  We put her in her bed in her special area and off to sleep she went.  Huh, how about that.  I woke up at 2 a.m. and thought, wow still no crying.  When I rolled over in bed and was facing the side of the bed my husband was on, there was a little black and white blob.  Well good grief, what kind of mother am I?  I didn’t even hear her cry.  But my husband did and didn’t have the heart to let her cry it out.  I kept worrying about her waking up and my not hearing it.  So I just kept watching her.  At 3:20 a.m., her eyes popped open and our day officially began. 

My husband and I both stayed home from work Friday to be with her.  We did all the usual things.  We took her to my office, to his office and to Petco of course because we apparently hadn’t gotten everything we needed.  We chased her around Friday and worked hard to get her to go potty where she was supposed to go potty.  Grass was a new concept for her but the pee pads were a really good thing. By the time Friday night rolled around, we decided to just put her in bed with us. 

Daisy slept on my side of the bed, but what she really wanted to do was sleep on top of my head.  I battled this dog for hours trying to get her to sleep where I wanted her to sleep and her letting me know that we were playing by her rules.  So I had another 4 hours of off and on sleep when I was jolted awake because she finally fell off the bed.  Up at 4 a.m., Daisy and I began our day again.  My entire Saturday felt like I had jetlag without the fun trip.  I was a walking zombie and my husband was not far behind me.  As we got ready to go to bed Saturday night, my husband asks, “What are we going to do tonight?”  I had a very firm answer for him, “I don’t know.”  What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?  Are we too old for this?  After a few minutes my husband made the decision.  Tonight she sleeps in her bed in her special place and we will do our best not to go get her if she cries.  “Deal.” I reply. 

I put all of Daisy’s toys in her area and put the t-shirt I had worn that day in her bed.  She curled up and went right to sleep.   We tiptoed past her to get to our room, fell into bed and I don’t remember much after that.  At 5:30 a.m., after 8 glorious hours of sleep, I woke up and looked around the bed.  No dog.  Did she really sleep in her bed all night and not cry?  I jumped up, put on my robe and quietly opened the door to her room.  There she was, sitting in her bed with one of her toys.  When she saw me she got up and came to me with her little tail wagging and covering my face with kisses.  Wow, she did it.  We were on to something here.

The most important thing in new puppy training that I had forgotten while in my brain fog and severe fatigue was consistency.  Babies, children and puppies need consistency.  Daisy needed to be loved, to play hard, eat nutritious food and learn a routine.  I’m told a Shih Tzu will respond very well to treats while training.  We are finding that to be the case for sure.  At just 3 pounds, it’s a little hard to push through the heavy vinyl of the dog door.  But put a tasty treat on the other side and call her, she can get through, although its slow right now.  She even went through it on her own yesterday, but then wasn’t sure how to get back in.  We are working on that.

I have also learned that she is like a baby or toddler because she need naps.  Lots of naps.  She loves her bed and when she gets tired, she just goes and gets in her bed and takes a nap.  If she is playing with us and we notice that she is playing too rough with those sharp little teeth, we know she is tired.  Instead of crying like little kids do when they are overly tired, she just gets too wound up and can’t seem to get control of her emotions.  We put her in her bed and she goes right to sleep.  My human kids weren’t that easy to put to bed.

Another really exciting thing we are noticing today is that she seems to be getting an idea of when she needs to potty and going to the appropriate place.  The ultimate goal for Daisy is to use the dog door and to go out to the yard area we have for her to do her business.  The sun is finally shining here today and hopefully no more rain for a few days.  I think we can make some real progress with potty training this week.

Well nap time is almost over.  I have got to go get those training treats ready for our next opportunity to learn. 

Adventure Day 2 – Southern Utah

Posted on by
Reply

The adventure Kings had a nice quiet morning before our afternoon of broadening my horizons.  Today we unhooked the RV again and headed back to Orderville for the Elkheart Canyoneering experience.  The entire reason Keith wanted to come to Utah was to see slot canyons.  We experienced our first one yesterday, but the climbing over the boulders within the slot canyon wore me smooth out.  Today’s adventure was a little different.  This time we parked at the bottom of the canyon, hiked to the top of the canyon, then repelled into the canyon and worked our way out.

One of the things we really enjoyed was using a smaller tour company, East Zion Adventures We were not in huge groups and we didn’t have to do anything in a hurry. On this day, we paired up with a delightful young couple from Tampa, Florida. The wife was in the same boat as I was, we are both married to adventure junkies.  When our guide Eric asked how many of us had “never” repelled, three of the four hands went up.  Keith was our only seasoned adventurer with one repel under this belt.  Eric was great and got all us newbies ready to go. 

I used to think of hiking as just walking along a scenic trail made of gravel or dirt.  Isn’t that what you think of when you consider going hiking.  Each time I have thought that this week I have been so wrong.  When our guide “Joe” from yesterday said that the hardest part of Elkheart Canyon would be the hike up, he was absolutely right.  The path was narrow, steep, and rocky with areas of thick sand.   I know where all that sand was going that was blowing across Arizona when we passed through Friday.  It all landed in Utah. 

Now I’m a gal with just one balance nerve following my surgery 6 years ago.  I don’t have the best balance so when I’m challenged with something narrow and steep, I get concerned.  I don’t let it stop me, but it does concern me, and I try to be extra careful.  Keith was right behind me as always to make sure I didn’t fall off the mountain.  On top of that, we were at a higher altitude than good old Oklahoma and those inclines got my heart rate up to 166 according to my Apple watch.  We stopped a few times along the way so we could all breath. 

We finally made our way to the top and there it was, the 200 year old Juniper tree that was going to hold the ropes so we could repel down.  The first rappel was roughly 100 feet or the equivalent of a 10 story building.  I’m not panicking yet.  Our guide is getting things set up and then he tries to be funny and tells us he will just see us at the bottom.  Ha ha.  When he finished explaining our instructions, Keith the experienced one went first.  I watched my husband start down and then over the side where I could no longer see him.  He made it safely to the bottom. Eric looked at the three of us and asked, “who is next?” I heard a woman say, “I’ll go.” That woman was me. I volunteered to go next. Eric got me all hooked up, answered a few more of my questions and off I went, slow and steady.

And guess what?  I DID IT AND I LOVED IT!  We all did, even our two new friends from Florida.  We worked our way through the slot canyon and Eric would give us a little history about the creation of the slot canyons. I apparently did not pay attention to my geography classes in high school. Eric was the perfect blend of knowledge and fun today.  Towards the end of the canyon we had two additional repels that were narrow and awkward.  No problem.  Now I’m wondering when I can repel again.  I know, who is this woman?

Well a successful fun day for sure.  Tomorrow is our last day here at the Ponderosa.  What could be in store for us?

Adventure Day 1 – Southern Utah

Posted on by
1

Any time we travel and change time zones it messes with my sleep. My eyes popped open at 4 a.m., but I refused to get up.  I forced myself to doze until 6.  So up I go, make the coffee and inch the heater up a bit.  Yes, it’s cold here.  How cold?  Well that’s a great question that I can’t answer.  We have discovered that we have no cell service, no Internet and no TV stations at our little RV spot.  Which means, no email, no text messages, no phone calls, NO NOTHING.  As you can imagine out in the middle of nowhere, cell service is spotty.  I’m sure somewhere along our journey today we will hit a cell tower.  I’m just hoping my daughter hasn’t called out the National Guard if she has been trying to reach me.  Guess I better let her know first about our situation when we reach civilization.

So today Keith has signed us up for three things:  Red Canyon Jeep Tour, Crimson Canyon Hike & UTV Adventure and a Sunset guided hike.  I think it is safe to say that I just trust Keith when he is scheduling activities for us because one of our adventures today, I was definitely not prepared for.  More on that in a bit.

Red Canyon

Let’s start with the Red Canyon Jeep Tour.  When we finally got cell service we discovered that it was 43 degrees and the high was only supposed to be around 54.  I was not really prepared for this turn in the weather, but I put on a couple of layers and we headed out to East Zion Adventures to get our day started.  Eight fellow adventurers and our two guides piled into an “open air” jeep type thing.  Our guide told us that we had about a 12 mile ride before arriving on the property where they would drive us out to see the Red Canyon.  We finally reached the property and headed off road.  The trail, if we can call it that was extremely rough, it was very windy and cold.  We were all wrapped in blankets with our hoods over our heads trying to stay warm until we reached the Red Canyon.  The view was spectacular.  We spent a little time at the overlook walking around taking pics and then we headed back to the Ponderosa.  Tour guides on these kinds of trips can provide some great historical references for what you are seeing [which I enjoy] and they can be people who just like to hear themselves talk [which I don’t enjoy].  Our tour guide “Jeff” liked to hear himself talk. 

We learned that we were going to have to drive over to where our second adventure of the day was scheduled.  That meant that we were going to have to unhook and drive the RV about 30 miles to Orderville, Utah.  Remember the tour I said I was not prepared for?  Well this is the one.  We met our group of 9 people and got split into a group of 5 and 4.  Keith and I were in the group of 4 with two delightful young ladies from Missouri.  For this adventure, our tour guide was Joe. 

Again, we hopped into an open -air jeep thing and headed out to the opening of Crimson Canyon canyon, which took us through more dirt, sand and wind in our faces.  When we got to the “sandy” part of the road this is where Joe stopped and asked if I wanted to take it slow and easy or fast.  Now what was I supposed to say to that and why was he asking me?  We went fast.

We arrive at our destination and we are at the mouth of a slot canyon.  Well we did come to Utah to see slot canyons and here one was.  This will be great I thought.  We will stroll through this beautiful slot canyon and take some pics.  We took some beautiful pics but strolling through the canon made up about 15% of it.  We went from the bottom to the top of this slot canyon and we had to climb over obstacles.  Yes, I said CLIMB OVER OBSTACLES.  See where I get the unprepared part.    Do we think Keith new this and didn’t tell me?  No, I think he was surprised too.  Some of them weren’t too bad, some were very challenging, and some were “oh shit and oh hell no” obstacles.  Of course, the young ladies did great, Keith did really well and then there was me, the 61 year old short woman. 

You know, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape.  I play 2-3 hours of pickleball 5 times a week.  My aerobic fitness is really good.  With that said, what I learned pretty quickly is that my upper body strength and lower body strength could use some work.  I had to pull myself over boulders and climb up walls and work around awkward unforgiving angles.  Made me really appreciate those athletes on American Ninja Warrior.   This is where I can’t say enough about our tour guide Joe.  He was not going to let me fail and he made sure I could complete each obstacle and of course Keith was there to assist as well.  Sometimes it took one or both of them to pull or push me up and over something. 

When we got to the top of the canyon I kept wondering where the opening was that would take us back to the jeep.  There wasn’t one!  We had to go back down the way we came in.  I will admit, it was easier going down.  Sliding over the obstacles was much easier than climbing over them.  Keith gave Joe a really big tip at the end of the adventure.  He was the best tour guide ever! 

We finally got back to the RV site, plugged everything back in and decided to walk up to the Lodge for dinner.  We hadn’t really had anything of any substance to eat.  Once we finished dinner, we had an hour and half or so before the next adventure, the sunset hike.  Now I am the one that wanted to do this hike.  Sounded romantic right?  Well after dinner I began to feel myself crashing.  I couldn’t get warm and I was just exhausted.  I think all the adrenaline I used up canyoneering and the cold, windy and sandy conditions were taking its toll.  By the time we got back to the RV I was done for the day.  I wrapped up in a blanket and didn’t really move until it was time to go to bed.  I don’t think we missed anything on the sunset hike, the sun was behind the clouds, it was getting cold again and the wind had kicked up. 

Tomorrow I will be all rejuvenated for what will probably be the more difficult adventure for me thus far.  The canyoneering in Elkheart Canyon is where I have to repel down into the canyon “3” times.  What was Keith thinking here?

RV Adventure in Utah

Posted on by
Reply

Are you just itching for a little adventure? Are you tired of wearing that mask and staying home? Are you tried of working and just need a vacation? The answer for us was a resounding YES! We are now fully vaccinated and are ready to get back out there. Where should we go? How about Southern Utah? We have never been there. We’ve heard it is beautiful and it’s May. What better time.

Now we did not just pop up one day and say, “Hey, let’s go to Utah.”  We did some planning.  Months of planning actually.  Finally found a place to take the RV and Keith did all the booking of the activities.  I have learned over the years that Keith does a great job of planning activities and I have gotten really good at trusting his selections.  Full disclosure here.  Sometimes Keith plans activities and I’m terrified at what he has scheduled for us.  He is really good at putting me outside of my comfort zone. He calls it “broadening my horizons.”  I have NEVER been a risk taker or thrill seeker.  Just not in my DNA.  My husband on the other hand?  Well you get the point.  But again, I have learned to trust that he would not put my life in danger, on purpose, and I usually love doing the things he schedules. 

It will take us two full days to get to Utah in the RV.  It takes longer to get anywhere in the RV.  Our goal was to get as far as Albuquerque on day one and day two arrive in Utah.  There is a really nice KOA campground in Albuquerque.  We stayed there last summer when we went to Ouray, Colorado.  We knew this route so there was nothing new or exciting really.  Oh wait, we stopped at a rest stop on Hwy 287 in Texas to use the restroom.  As we pulled in and started to walk up to the facility there it was, the sign from Hell.  “Watch for snakes.  They are watching you.”  Really?    I helped Keith drive a couple of times, we both took naps and listened to a good book.  We arrived safely in Albuquerque, tucked ourselves into the KOA and called it day.

My eyes popped open at 5 a.m. so I got up, made my coffee and turned on the Albuquerque news.  The weather man reported that we would have some rain on our journey and high gusting winds.  None of that is good news when you are in a high profile vehicle, AKA our RV.   We headed west out of Albuquerque and there were four hot air balloons in the air and more on the ground waiting to go up.  Some day we would like to go back during their big hot air balloon fiesta. 

As we continued on west, the rain did start and then the wind kicked up. The scenery was nothing great. Lots of nothing and lots of areas of what appeared to be high poverty. The rain stopped, the wind got worse. Gusts almost blew us off the road a couple of times. Keith drove all the way today. When we got just outside of Flagstaff, we took Highway 89 north to Marble Canyon. Probably another hour and a half through some of the ugliest terrain I have ever seen. Dirt, dirt, mounds of dirt more mounds of dirt and blowing dirt. Lots of blowing dirt and red sand skies.

Along this stretch of road there were old structures set up that were probably used as places for the residents of the area to sell jewelry and other items that they make. These looked abandoned and unusable. They did seem to have a use however. Over the course of the journey along this road, I saw two people stopped to “potty” behind them. I’m thinking they thought if they went behind these facilities they could not be seen by anyone driving down the road. For the woman and the man that I saw, you would be incorrect in your assumption. I certainly saw you. Got a little chuckle out of it actually.

We finally arrived at Marble Canyon. There was a massive pedestrian bridge that crossed the gorge. It was absolutely beautiful. The water running through the canyon was a beautiful color of blue green. Reminded me of the beautiful waters of the Caribbean. There were people taking rafting rides. If Keith had known about that ahead of time, he might have tried to “broaden my horizons.”

Pedestrian Bridge

We finally crossed into Utah and made it to our stop at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort. We checked in, found our spot and settled in for the evening. To say that Keith was exhausted was an understatement. The temperature is much cooler here and we are actually having to use the heater in the RV. Guess we better get a good night’s sleep; the adventure part of the trip starts tomorrow.

Every Day is Valentine’s Day

Posted on by
2

Another Valentine’s Day with my sweetie and today’s weather forecast is for snow!  To be honest, every day is Valentine’s day with my sweetie.  But on Valentine’s Day 12 years ago, I was afraid it could be my last with this man I cherish each and every day.  You see on February 10, 2009, just nine months after our wedding, Keith got the call that he had cancer.  For all of you out there that have ever been the recipient of those words, you know everything in your world stops cold when you hear them.  What went from a swollen lymph node on his neck, definitely not cancer said the doctor, to 10 days of antibiotics followed by a needle biopsy, it WAS CANCER.

I have always felt from the moment Keith and I met that he was my gift from God.  Why would God put us together only to take it away?  That was a huge question in my mind.  As the wife of someone with cancer, I can only tell you how it was for me. I cannot begin to fathom how difficult it was for my husband.

On a beautiful, unusually warm day here in Southern Oklahoma in February of 2009, I had driven my mother to the doctor in Texas.  Driving home on I-35 just 40 miles away from home I get a call from my husband.  “The doctor just called.  I have cancer,” he said.   I am trying to stay calm, but it’s not easy.  My throat went dry, tears sprang to my eyes and I thought I was going to throw up.  He asked where I was and I told him I could be home in 30 minutes.  We agreed to meet at the house.  My mind raced and all I could think of is why him. 

I met my husband at home and we sat together on the couch as storm clouds were growing outside.  The thunder boomed and the lighting cracked across the sky.  It felt as if my anger for this situation was manifesting outside.  The local doctor had really not given us much information about anything.  What were we supposed to do now?  Where should we go.  How bad is it?????  We sat together and held each other and just cried.  Then the power went off and we just sat together in the dark.  Brewing just west of town and traveling about ¼ of a mile north of our home was a February tornado.  Welcome to Oklahoma. 

As we sat there in the dark trying to talk through options, I was reminded of something my husband said to me many years before.  “If I ever get cancer I’m not doing chemo and throw up for months on end.” For some reason that memory was fresh in my mind and I got right in my husband’s face and said, promise me you will do whatever it takes to beat this.  PROMISE ME!  When I reminded him of that memory, his response was “I will absolutely do whatever it takes.” 

So fast forward three days to Valentine’s Day 2009.  We were in no way in the mood to dress up and go out, but we had already committed to attending a community fundraising function that included food, drink and dancing.  My only real memory of that night was when Keith took me in his arms for those slow dances and me fighting back the tears wondering if this would be the last time we would be able to dance together.  That’s when in my heart I said to God, “I know you didn’t put this man in my life to just take him away.”

A few days later we traveled to MD Anderson in Houston to begin a path for treatment.  On April 24th, just six days after our first wedding anniversary, Keith completed his final treatment, rang the bell and we headed for home.  During this 2 ½ month period of time is when I learned what a real hero my husband is and just how brave he was.  You see, I am just the wife and caregiver.  I didn’t have to go through weekly all day chemo sessions, which by the way did not make him throw up and he did not lose his hair.  But he did have to undergo radiation treatments twice a day for many weeks. 

The radiation treatments were the hardest.  They had to make a mask for his head to hold him still while the radiation was delivered to his left tonsil.  He had to insert a large wedge-type thing into his mouth to pull his tongue out of the way while the radiation was being delivered.  To make it worse, when they laid him on the table, put the mask over his face, it was BOLTED to the table.  As I sat in the waiting room each and every time with other wives, some of their husbands couldn’t do it and would leave treatment.  Week after week his neck began to look like someone took a blow torch to it and he was in immense pain and discomfort.  After a while he couldn’t swallow food so they had to put in a feeding tube directly into his stomach, which is the only way he could get nutrition for months.  When I think back to that time, I am reminded just how courageous he was and is to this day.  My hero, my forever love.  My heart goes out to all those who have battled this terrible disease and I am FOREVER grateful for the success of Keith’s treatment. 

God did not put us together to just rip us apart.  He put us together for the long haul.  We have decided that we have the in sickness and health part of our marriage vows down pat.  So I encourage everyone to not wait until that one day a year to show your loved one just how much you love them.  Do like the Kings’ do and make every day Valentine’s Day. 

I Love Dogs – Part 2

Posted on by
Reply

A few days ago I got a notice that a couple of people had read and “liked” a post I did from January 2015 titled, “I Love Dogs.”  After I got that notice, I went back and read the post.  OMG, talk about opening the water works and tears flowing.  Our little Cavaliers, Shawn and Maggie were just a little more than 3 at that time and I wrote in detail all about them and their little personalities.  We lost both dogs last year, Maggie in July and Shawn in November.  Cavaliers are prone to a genetic heart defect and that defect took both of my babies at just 8 and 9 years of age.  We have so missed them and reading that post opened up the wound again. 

We have been actively searching for a new fur baby, but not another Cavalier.  The heart defect is just too prominent in this breed and neither my husband nor I can do that again any time soon.  As I said in my last post, we had decided to change breeds to the Shih Tzu.  You know researching breeders is exhausting.  The other thing that is exhausting is we can find no puppies.  Most of the time, they just recently had puppies but they are all gone.  Most of them have a 6 month to 12 month waiting list.  Now I am a patient woman, but this has been a real test.  I’m just looking for a glimmer of hope here….

In carefully looking at breeders, I found one just about 75 miles from our home.  She had a dog who would have pups towards the end of January and be ready to go at 12 weeks, which would be in April.  OK, now we are getting somewhere.  These days you have to put your name on a list and then when puppies are born, the breeders go down that list.  We found the same thing with the Cavaliers.  I guess when you have the demand, you can do that.  So I put my name on the list.  She had a vet checkup date set for my birthday to see if the dog had conceived.  The appointment was on December 30 my birthday so that’s a good sign right?  Well a dagger got shot through our hearts.  Her dog had not conceived.  So our name on the list goes to the next set of dogs she has that she will breed.

The next batch of puppies from this breeder are due in late spring, not sure if that’s April, May … If we are lucky enough to be high enough on the list, we might have a baby in June or July…  My patience is waning and really, just makes me sad.  My husband suggested that we see if we can find another breeder in the meantime.  I really didn’t want to start over. 

I was coming home from work when I noticed my neighbor out in her front yard repotting a plant.  Her little dog was out in the yard with her and then I remembered, SHE HAS A SHIH TZU!  Maybe she would have a contact for me.  I walked over and we talked for a bit and she said she would check with a few people.  BAM, within an hour she had given me the names of 5 people to check with.  One of those had sold a puppy to her niece at Christmas.  This breeder had a private Facebook page.  I asked to join and was immediately accepted.  As soon as I got on the page she was showing two four week old females she had left in her current litter!  And there she was, this adorable little black and white baby.  I turned the phone to my husband to see her and he said, “When can we go get her? I love her already.” 

Well we can go get her in 3-4 weeks.  Can you believe it?  We are going to be parents again!

Goodbye 2020

Posted on by
Reply

Happy New Year!!!!  Let’s all take a big breath and be grateful that 2020 is gone…. but certainly not forgotten.  I’m not naive, I know that the problems we had in 2020 are not going to magically disappear, but I can begin the new year with the hope that 2021 will be much better.  We had a really wet and cold New Year’s Eve with thunder and flood warnings.  Then at 9:30 p.m. all the lights went out in our house.  We opened the front door and all was dark everywhere we looked.  Wasn’t that just a perfect end to 2020?  The power was only off a couple of minutes but maybe that was the universe giving us a reset.  Fingers crossed.

With all that went on from March through December, I had one personal realization and we suffered two tragedies. 

I had a light bulb moment about 3 months ago.  My priorities were changing.  An opportunity for a new chapter in my life; a new chapter where I spend more time with those I love doing the things I love.  In order to begin this new chapter, I must retire.  And so I shall on July 1, 2022!  Life is short and I don’t want to put off that next chapter any longer than I have to.  If I could retire today, I would.

My husband came into my life when I was 44 and we have been together 17 years now.  One of the wonderful things about our marriage is that we would rather spend time with one another than with anyone else.   When we went into lock-down mode and spent even more time together, it made me aware that I needed more of that. Thankfully, he feels the same way.  When he asked me what changed my mind about retirement it was an easy answer.  I want to spend more time with you.  Retiring will also give me an opportunity to see my daughter and her family more.  They live in Arkansas and COVID kept from seeing them for a whole year.  Do you know how much a 9 and 12-year-old can change in a year?

In the middle of everything else going on last year, we lost both of our beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniels within four months of one another.  We are heartbroken.  This was the first holiday season Keith and I haven’t had a dog.  I have to tell you; it is a huge hole in our life.  Both dogs suffered the horrible heart disease that Cavaliers are prone to.  We lost Maggie in July and Shawn in November.  She was just a few weeks away from her 9th birthday and Shawn was 9.  Both deaths happened unexpectedly and we were not prepared.

When Maggie died I told my husband that at some point I might not want to have a dog in our life.  He was quick to respond by saying, that’s just your grief talking.  Of course he was right.  Shortly thereafter, we started trying to find a friend for Shawn, another Cavalier.  While we were actively trying to find another Cavalier puppy, I was taking Shawn to doggie day care for a half a day.  He absolutely loved it and we saw another fun side to him.  Then it happened again one Saturday night.  He went into congestive heart failure we lost him.  Again in my mind I told myself, no more dogs…..but of course that was my grief talking again.  Yes, we want another dog in our lives, we just need to grieve for a bit.  This time I had an additional emotion to add to my grief, anger.  I am not sure why, but I felt extreme anger over both of their deaths for weeks.  I still cry some days when I think about them and I still expect them to greet me at the back door.  It’s a process and we are working through it.

In moving forward, I was adamant about us not getting another Cavalier.  How was I going to get my husband on board with that?  Their personalities are what sold us on the breed to begin with.  A dog that would be happy just hanging out was what we wanted and what we got.  They were sweet, happy go lucky and great little travelers.  If I was going to talk him out of another Cavalier, I would need to find us another option and sell him on it.  After my research, I had come to a decision about our next dog breed and I called my daughter to talk about it.  When I told her I wasn’t sure I could sell my husband on it she had some sage advice.  “Mom, all he wants to do is make you happy.  Just talk to him.”  She was right of course.

I pulled up a picture of the Shih Tzu on my phone and went in to talk to him.  I tearfully said I couldn’t do another Cavalier and he agreed he couldn’t either.   “So what kind of dog would we get?” he asked.  I turned my phone to him to see the picture.  “What is that?” he asked.  A Shih Tzu, a Chinese lapdog who wants nothing more than to sit on our laps and hang out.  Then I said to him, “Guess what they most often die from.”  “What?” he asked.  OLD AGE, NOT HEART DISEASE.  So the search for our new baby has begun.

So as we begin 2021 with hope for a better year, I will remember 2020 for the things it gave us and for the hardships that came with it.