Saturday, May 27, 2017

Speaking of trails

 Interesting how life seems to leave a trail and whether we notice it or not it's there.

I just finished a book titled, Alone Again,. I didn't like it, but it reminded me of an e-book I have listed on Amazon titled Spirits of Cibola County. It also reminded me that I am a very good writer. The book I just read began with no preface and was a collection of short stories that didn't seem to have any connection. The last story was supposed to be the author's life. He explained he had found a book that inspired him to write a similar one. He simply copied the format. Interesting, but no cigar!

My book on the other hand came from my own mind and a curiosity about my neighbors. I know that each story has a tiny thread that leads to the next one. All I had to do was follow the thread and my own intuition. Many of the 64 stories first appeared in columns I wrote for the Cibola Beacon, with the last few added to help get it up to date. It begins with a brief history of Cibola County, New Mexico to give readers an idea of the area.

The stories also led to a sister blog to this one in 2014 called Cibola Images. It was meant to promote my adopted home town and the people who live here. I shared a few of the stories combined with pictures and tidbits of things that were happening. After awhile I noticed it didn't get much response so I let it sit and sit.

About the same time that I finished reading, Alone Again, I shuffled my Doreen Virtue Angel Cards and drew Entrepreneur. At first I thought, "Oh come on what does that have to do with anything?" The first part of the card read:Self employment suits your disposition and intentions. Working for yourself allows you to better follow your intuition and Divine guidance

Well alright I'll buy that!

I immediately remembered my vow to not write for the Beacon again. I like writing my blog because I do not have an editor screwing up the points I know I am supposed to make. As an example one of the things that always bothered me in writing a newspaper column is the fact that women are referred to by their last name i.e. Gunn. In the first place I was born with a last name of Halverson, Gunn was just borrowed. Why don't men get it? In my opinion it is disrespectful.

I'm not really sure what I am going to do with the sister blog, but there is a real possibility that I will try to pick up that thread again. A lot of changes have taken place in the area since I stopped writing in 2014 and I only used a tiny portion of the life stories I had at my fingertips. I have written permission from the subjects to promote them in any way I choose to use them.

Often the trail continues when something you don't like pushes you to move forward. I have found that happens a lot when negative people appear out of nowhere. They are only roadblocks giving us a little time to refocus. 





Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Is this the year?

The trail of deaths in my family occurring in years ending in the number 7 is amazing. Since this is 2017 I am wondering if it is my turn.

My paternal grandfather died in 1937, the year I was born. A paternal uncle in 1947, my paternal grandmother in 1957, my father in 1967 and my mother in 1987.

Back in 2007 when I was writing my book, Journey of an Enlightened Egotist, I also noticed this trend and asked the same question as the year flowed into 2008. Nothing happened. Whew!

One of my ex-husband's cousins did die unexpectedly recently. Maybe that counts. It made me a little nervous as he was about the same age as my oldest son.

Before I go any further I do realize that we do not die, we simply leave our bodies behind and go back to where we came from, the spirit world.

The year 2017 is almost half over and I am again asking is it my turn? Even though I have had some physical stuff pop up lately I am actually enjoying the challenge of doing my part to fix them.

I am not ready to leave earth quite yet. I know there are still important things left for me to do. I would be very happy to stick around until 2027 or even 2037 if I could leave as a happy healthy 100!

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Prayers

Reading a friend's blog post about an encounter with a person who asked to pray for her reminded me of an experience in my own life. Oddly it happened in 2011, right before I met the person for the first time who wrote the blog post I just read.

Everything is connected- believe it!

My story:
In the fall of 2011 I was kidnapped by Cibola General Hospital for two weeks following unexpected surgery for a blocked bowel. The nursing staff kept assuring me my doctor would let me go home any day. Right!! Apparently he didn't get the message.

I had a special male nurse named Teddy. He made me laugh when he said he was my very own Teddy. That was a detour, now on with my story. He often relayed tidbits that I probably wasn't supposed to know.
One night Teddy gave me some information from my doctor's notes. He told me if my body didn't start behaving I was going to have to have followup surgery. NO!!!!!

The next day I heard voices in the hall and noticed a woman who was a cousin of my ex-husband. She and a friend were making hospital calls, praying for the patients. I'm not going to say I have never prayed, but not on a regular schedule. Anyway they came into my room and asked if I wanted to pray with them. I shared that I might have to have a second surgery and replied, "You can pray FOR me if you want to."

I'm not sure if it worked or not but the next day my body decided to start behaving and the second surgery was not necessary. It is also the day I met the woman whose blog I just read. She was on a trip to visit someone and decided to stop by the hospital and check on me. We are Facebook friends and have been friends ever since. You might know her as Lois. She often comments on my blog.

The healing continues

My son had a followup appointment for his finger wound this morning and has been released to go back to work. The stitches come out next Tuesday. ( See previous post if confused.) Because he is a case manager in a prison he has been cautious. He said anything one could expect to find germ wise can be found in a prison. Even though he doesn't need to keep it wrapped anymore he will still use a finger cover while at work.

My unexpected gout attack has decided to leave me alone. Although very painful it lasted for a little less than a week with medication. (Also see previous post if confused.) I still have no idea what caused it. I don't drink alcohol and the list of foods that are known to cause it don't really fit. It may not ever happen again and I am refusing to take medication for the rest of my life until I have more information. A blood test does show a high level of uric acid, but not over the normal level.

Tuesday I went back to physical therapy for my shoulder (rotator cuff problem), which is getting better. I had to cancel one session because my foot was so swollen I couldn't stand to do the exercises, although I did what I could at home. I didn't want to start all over again when I went back to therapy. No more excuses! 

The healing continues and as my friend Lois always says- onward and upward! I may need to change that to "moving on"!

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

An unfortunate chain of events.

The universe has gone out of its way to prove that everything is connected. Every action has a reaction and I guess it depends on the kind of person you are just how you will react.

I had recently ordered a tee shirt for my grandson and it finally arrived. I had left a couple of phone messages asking him to come and pick it up. He only lives two doors from me. The shirt was what my mother would have called "an unbirthday gift". It was for no reason except I thought he would like to wear it. I waited several days and he didn't respond. I thought he might be out of town.

My son was going to town on an errand and I asked him to drop it off on his way.

The door was opened by his sister, her known to be mean dog and my grandson. My son delivered the shirt and for some reason reached down to pet the dog, who I understand was growling. He always growls. The dog decided to bite the hand that was attempting to pet him. My son pulled his hand away and the dog's teeth left a 3" gash along a finger on his left hand.

Admittedly I wasn't there so this is second hand information.

To continue the tale. My daughter apparently provided some gauze to wrap around the wound which by then was dripping blood. My son managed to come home and we cleaned up the wound a little and proceeded to go to the ER to have it looked at. BTW his insurance deductible is $250 per ER visit. His finger was in really bad shape.

It really annoyed me that his sister never even called to see how he was. After making sure the wound was covered as much as possible and treating it with an antibiotic he went to work Monday at the prison where he and his sister are both employed. His sister informed him that the bite was not her fault. Her house, her dog, but it wasn't her responsibility.

He was able to have the wound checked out at the doctor's office yesterday. He was also told, since it was still dripping fluid, that he couldn't go back to work until tomorrow, hopefully. In addition to the other expenses this is using up some of his vacation time for this year.

The point of this post is I am wondering who is responsible for the bills it will create?

1. I feel somewhat responsible because I asked him to deliver the shirt which my grandson should have been responsible to have picked up
2. It was my daughter's dog, who was not restrained and did the deed.
3. Knowing the dog is basically mean my son should have ignored him.

Since my son is reluctant to give his sister a bill to submit to her house insurance I feel like I should at least offer to pay half of the ER bill to help him out. His reasoning, "I have to work with her". I can understand that but it isn't fair. 

I can't do anything about my daughter's lack of compassion except wonder what happened to cause it. If it had been my house and my dog I would have taken responsibility- no question!

P.S. In case you are wondering why I didn't deliver the shirt, I had an attack of gout and could barely get a shoe on for a couple of days.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Help I'm stuck in the kitchen!

Well another Mother's Day is about here and I can count on a gift from at least one of my three grown children. That would be my oldest son who has been living with me for almost three years. 90% of the time his gifts always seem to be focused on the kitchen.What the heck is going on here?

In recent years I have received a new microwave, a new electric griddle, a new kitchen faucet, a large set of plastic storage containers and a spice rack containing new spices (some of which I have never heard of).

This year he is installing a new cook top hood to match the new black appliances I just purchased and had installed. There was really nothing wrong with the old one unless you count 40 years of grease. I know he is trying to be helpful but these are the most interesting  gifts I have ever heard of.

At least I can count on my young grandson to give me a cool basket of flowers or a piece of jewelry, something more motherly. Considering that  this son is the only one of my three children who remembers that they have a mother I know I should be grateful for whatever he gives me.

Even though I do love to cook and really enjoy trying out new recipes that's not all I do. For one thing I write this blog! This year I decided to buy myself a gift. On a website I found a really cool shirt that pretty much says it all. So I ordered one for myself.

The message is "THAT'S WHAT I DO I COOK AND I KNOW THINGS" 

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Life goes on even when you don't

I've been taking a break and trying to get my house in better shape. We bought it new in 1977 so it is far from new.today, but still in pretty good shape considering. This last week I removed the entrance floor tiles and my son installed the new ones. I think it looks pretty nice and only cost about $40. Take a look.





The next project is the kitchen floor, which we will replace with sheet vinyl sometime this weekend. Picture later as right now it is still at Home Depot waiting for my son to pick it up this afternoon.  When that is installed the next project is removing the carpet in the living room, dinning room, two bedrooms and my office. That is going to be a very dusty mess, but I am tired of sneezing. It's been on the floors for years and it makes me laugh to think of the stories it could tell and the conversations it has witnessed.

In any case, that project will no doubt be done in sections or perhaps not. More on that later. After my divorce in 1999 I gradually replaced almost every piece of furniture, not all at once of course. I really don't understand the younger generation going into debt. Patience just doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary.

Besides working on our living conditions I just began a month of physical therapy to improve a shoulder problem. Once again I am very grateful for Cibola Sports and Physical Therapy right here in Grants, NM.  My therapist is extremely understanding and good at what he does. After only two sessions I already see progress.

It sure would be nice if my entire body would work at the same time. It's always a surprise when something new pops up. That's when I see Mike. When I look around at other people my age it's hard not to think I've done a pretty good job of taking care of myself. Okay my guide is probably thinking, "less sugar would be a good idea". I'm still working on that and I'm leaving it for another day.