Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Another Babs Post

Well, I am writing this at 4:00 a.m. while Babs continues to eat her dinner.  She slept until 1:00 a.m. and then decided she was hungry.  Great.  Just what I did not need.

Sometimes I am able to sleep on the couch and awaken when I think she needs to go outside.  Tonight the sleeping on the couch happened, but in spurts.  And right now is one of those awake times.  So I decided to do something useful - like surf the internet, write my blog, color my picture.

Babs has trained me really well, I know, but I don't like my options.  Because she is confused most of the time, making her stay in her kennel and bang on the sides until morning seems cruel.  We have learned that locking her in the utility room to eat, while effective, usually results in a mess to clean up in the morning.  So when she is up at night (which she has been the last two, though she slept through the night several times previous to that) I opt to feed her, lay on the couch, and hope I wake up to let her out.  It has worked tonight, but tomorrow morning should be a trip!  Naptime, I am sure you and I will be friends tomorrow afternoon.

Some people have asked me why we don't just put her down.  Unfortunately, that is not my nature.  If she were suffering, yes.  But just because she is inconvenient?  Does not compute with me.

So, I will continue to be up some nights while my little dog eats enough that she can at least sleep.  Here she comes now from her empty bowl.  I hope that means we can both go to bed!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Cleaning Out

I was determined this January to get on top of our basement.  And that is a challenge.  It is filled with years and years of memories.  So we first worked on the storage area.  It is not done, but at least we can get in it.  Then the cedar closet.  How much luggage does one family need?  Well, we now have less of it.

I just finished going through framed pictures.  And we have a lot of them.  I finally decided to take the pictures out of the frames, get rid of the frames and put the pics into an album.  Seeing the growth in the kids has been fun, but looking at our pictures from before kids has been really fun.  I just sent the kids a picture of us in October before we were married in June.  Hilarious.  Don is wearing his blue polyester, western-cut leisure suit.  Lovely.  I have on a long dress, red gingham-checked top with quilted blue skirt.  It isn't quite as bad as the leisure suit . . . or that's my story, and I am sticking to it.

We have filled Diana's room with clothing and items to go to AmVets; we have taken one trip to Dress for Success (I have only been retired for 7 years - I think it is finally time).  By the time we are done, I hope we have a lot fewer items in the basement!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Cars That Drive Themselves

In late November, we purchased a 2014 Jeep to replace our overdriven 2009 Jeep.  Because the new one is just as red as our former one, it is hard to tell that we had a new car.  But get into the car, and man, oh man.  What a difference!

I had never heard of adaptive cruise control.  Did you know you could put a car on cruise control and when the car pulls too close to the car ahead, the Jeep automatically slows down?  It senses that the space between the two cars is closing too rapidly and it adjusts its speed on its own.   Amazing.

We have also discovered that when we park, we can push a button and the car will lower itself over an inch to make exiting and entering the car easier.  The voice controls are so sophisticated that I cannot figure them out; the phone is clearer and faster to connect; the seats are not only heated, they have air conditioning.  When someone is in the blind spot, the car beeps; the back-up mirror has curved lines that accurately tell the driver how far an obstacle is away from the car; when someone is walking behind as the driver is backing out, the car beeps.

I have truly loved my new car, and although it doesn't actually drive itself, it seems as if it could!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

OK, OK

All right, already.

I am not a big fan of flu shots.  I have only had one before, and that was the year a contracted the only cold I have had in years.  So I don't get them.

This year was no different.  I knew that the flue was on its way, but I did not see the point to getting a shot.  Until today.  Yesterday, amidst an onslaught of news reports, discussions with friends, and comments from Don, I decided I had better get the shot.  Over 50% of the flu cases in Wichita are of the H1N1 variety, and luckily, this year the H1N1 is in the shot.  So I decided that it would probably be a good idea to get the shot.  So I did.

So there.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Yes, Virginia, There Is a God

As we come to the end of another Christmas season, complete with parties, decorations, and gifts, we tend to forget the real lesson of Christmas.  But luckily, this year, I have had frequent reminders.  God makes His presence known in many ways, and I have seen many instances of God's tender hand in my life.  The most recent "identifiable" one occurred on Monday.

Since September 30, our church has been operating without a priest.  We have had the very generous help of several supply priests around town, but generally, our secretary, bookkeeper, youth director, Vestry, and I have been doing the work.  My greatest fear was that someone would pass away and we would not have someone available who could perform the service.

Our new priest, Mary, arrived in town on Dec. 30, but since she was ill, she did not come into the church until Monday morning.  She and her husband, Tim, were arranging her office, trying to get ready for the week.  Within two hours of her arrival, the church received the call.  A woman had passed away that weekend, and although she was not a member of our parish, the family wanted us to perform the service since she had been attending our service at her retirement home.

It was perfect.  We actually had someone to do the service.  And Mary says that has happened to her at nearly every church she has served.  Her first service has usually been a funeral.

I feel very fortunate that I did not have to deal with the funeral, and I am grateful to God that he had mercy on me.  And I am more grateful that we were able to find such a terrific priest.  It is going to be an awesome partnership.  Thanks be to God!