What the hailstorm did

It chewed holes in our zucchini leaves. I approve.

The Classic Fair Experience

I hit 60. WOOT! Chanel's gift to me was a trip the Western Idaho Fair. Hadn't been for years and was looking forward to chowing down the midway. You just can't beat the sheer geographic density of coronary-clogging goodies at a fair So here's how it went. 1. We pulled into the back 40 parking lot, hopped out and inhaled. Oh, the aroma of deep fryers and grease! Lovely. It hung lower than smoke over Sun Valley. No wonder people walked at a good clip from the back 40, to the middle 40, to the front 40 acres of parking. 2. Through the gates, stopped at the Idaho Statesman booth for the food coupon book, tore out our favorites and off...... 3. But first a detour through the exhibition buildings. I loved all the quilts and stitchery. Loved the food displays. Loved the photography. Loved looking at the paintings with Kevin not around. (He takes hours and appreciates them all.) Chanel & I took minutes, picked our favorites and then hustled to the commercial booths. Favorite: Remember the 60's when you could lose your fat via vibrating belt machines? Well now we have platforms. Stand on the platform, hang onto the handy rail, flip the On switch and ta da! Your booty fairly shakes itself. You don't have to move a muscle or break a sweat. It just made me laugh and I would have laughed harder had I known what the salesmen were charging (and guaranteeing) for such a machine. Well, we successfully negotiated all aisles and all salesmen and left the building with nary one business card, brochure, or flyer. I also kept it a big secret from the 20 or so cell phone booths that I'm still the only woman in America without one. Imagine the feeding frenzy. 4. On to the petting zoo. I must say those were some pretty docile Texas Longhorns whose noggins I was scratching. 5. And then the MIDWAY. I got the footlong corndog, slathered in mustard. Chanel, a cup of Churros. 6. We settled in to watch Lady Houdini hold her breath in a tank of water long enough to shuck locks and locks and locks. What a set of lungs! Her male partner (husband?) bragged it was her 1099th escape from death. His contribution to the act was to flinch & gasp at choreographed intervals + fish the locks,locks,locks out of the tank via magnet afterward. I also noticed he flirted with blondes on the side. We also watched the Black Street Boys because cheesy acts are all part of the fair experience. 7. By now the sun had set, the temperature cooled, and the crowds exploded. It was full time jostling to work our way to Carnival Land and stand in the long line for the Ferris Wheel. Having no tatoos to show the world, I felt quite out of place. And no one to make-out with. Just me and Chanel, two conservative little ladies in the the Drinking, Happy, Kissy crowd. What a relief to get our own wheel bucket and rise about it all. Turns out Chanel likes Ferris Wheels; doesn't like swinging the bucket in Ferris Wheels. 8. Thank you Idaho Statesman for including a Delsa's Ice Cream coupon in your book. The strawberry shortcake was the best and totally topped off the evening. 9. Biggest disappointment: Not being very hungry after that corndog. My brain wanted the gyro sandwiches, the Idaho Pizza breadsticks, and the baked potato ice cream, the pulled pork bbq, the elephant ears, the Navajo bread, and the 1 pound of french fries. Had to settle for mere inhaling and rolling out of there at midnight. 10. As we left, I said to Chanel, "Isn't this just like leaving Disneyland at the end of day? So sad, such a letdown. After months of saving and anticipating? Then it's overwith?" Nah--We went back to her apartment and watch 2 1/2hrs of Les Mis. Life is always a party with Chanel.

Dream car

We're shopping to replace both vehicles. Found MY car tonight, a red jaguar, well within the budget. I just love that cat hood ornament. I've told Kevin many times he can snap one off somebody's else's jag and hot glue to our van. Cheaper and just as cool in my book. File under new uses for hot glue in Pinterest.

Grandpa's van rumbles forth

Though the tires still had plenty of tread, it was ancient rubber. Aaron had supposed he would replace all tires on the reunion weekend, but he never got around to it. Hence Sunday afternoon he rumbled out of Nampa,about 2PMish with 100-degree temp, no A/C, into the desert with ancient and untested tires. (insert prayers here) He called from Burley. OK so far. About 10PM we got word via text from Chanel that one tire had shredded near Tremonton. We called him. "Don't worry mom & dad. I put on the spare." (equally ancient, equally iffy, and a different size from the blown tire) "I plan to drive about 45 mph on the shoulder and I have several friends between here and Taylorsville who I can call for help if I need it." Phone call from Taylorsville @ 1:30AM. "I'm home." Can you imagine....12 hours in that thing? At least I can check if off my list of things to worry about. PS. Three weeks ago Aaron, his kids, and us took the van for a picnic. This is when Aaron discovered in the little kitchenette cupboard that grandma had left it fully stocked with paper plates, cups, napkins, an old tablecloth, and a tub of unmatched silverware. Isn't that just like her--to leave things neatly prepared for the next outing? Believe me, the paper patterns were all vintage. You can't buy stuff like that nowdays.

In honor of Uncle Richards and my shared birthdays: a cat story

Dashaway, our 19-yr-old cat, had become arthritic, incontinent, bony, toothless, mangy and banned to the garage. (For the incontinence) Kevin & I were at an impasse. I wanted euthanasia. He wanted resurrection via vet bills, meds, lab tests, etc. Money was spent and diagnosis obtained. The vet said bad thyroid requiring weekly lab tests to regulate. For our efforts Dashaway might regain her weight, but vet gave no guarantee for curing the incontinence. Kevin wanted to proceed. He felt sinful about euthanasia. I presented him with a handful of human medical bills, which I didn't know (at the time) how I would pay. I guess he saw which should be the higher priority because he agreed to euthanasia if I promised to never, never, never have another cat the rest of my life. This is a hard promise for a cat-lover, but I made my deal the with Devil and Dashaway went to Heaven. This brings me to Aaron & Chanel. Weeks later they were hanging out in the SLC Disney store when they spied the fat, plush Lucifer from Cinderella. They slapped high fives and chortled,"Mom has got to have this cat!" Oh, I laughed when Chanel brought it home! Lucifer sits on my bed with his permanent sneer, resembling the anti-social Dashaway perfectly, only fatter and not opposed to a good belly-rubbing. I think he will satisfy my latent cat-loving as the years go by. Wilson kids, do me a favor and go buy a cat for your father.

Pain

Did I tell you a jammed my right shoulder? Try this: go from a standing position to sitting on the floor and notice how you might use one arm to brace yourself from falling in a heap. That's what I did on the grass at the bus stop 10 days ago. I've sat on the grass 5 days a week for 6 weeks now and managed to not injure myself. But on that day, YOWZAAA!!!!! Pop went something, followed my shooting hot pain through my right arm and fingers started going numb. I wondered to myself, "Now you're in a pickle. How do you propose to get yourself back to standing with a limp right arm?'" Right about then a lawnmower guy came by needing to mow that patch of lawn. It was either get off my butt or death by mowing. Me and my dangling arm managed to get up, on the bus, and home.
Interesting disability. I can't or couldn't:
1. run the van gear shift
2. reach across for a seat belt
3. pull up pants
4. pull arms in & out of sleeves
5. pull up left bra strap
6. shake hands w/arm extended
7. hold anything weighty, like a jug of milk or the iron
8. reach laterally across my body

But time has passed and I've swallowed plenty of Tylenol. Some mobility has returned, but I gave up and went to the doctor today.
X-rays show nothing broken, so it's a muscle tear of some sort, curable with more pain killers, more time, & some physical therapy.
I have learned to LOVE my left arm. So dextrous!. So helpful! So good in a pinch! So handy to have! kiss kiss kiss
On the way home from the doctor I fulfilled a life-long fantasy. I pulled onto 12th ave road directly behind a wailing firetruck, hit the gas, and sped a mile down the street on his tail. And NOBODY was in my path because he, of course, had cleared it. Oh it was fun!. All these cars pulled to the sides except me happily zipping past and feeling like I had won something. Cross that off my bucket list.

The wheels on the bus go round & round

Whatever was I worried about? I feel like one of my four life problems has just fallen off the radar. I tell you--bus riding is soothing. Snooze in the AM. Reading the PM.
Interesting characters and famous lookalikes. Thusfar I've sat next to Johnny Depp
(as his Jack Sparrow character) and Stephen King.

I love my new office, my location in the office, the new walk I take both at lunch and after work, the huge windows which allow me to see thunderstorms arriving from the West, the double monitors, and the smoking hot printer which can print, copy, & fax so fast my head spins.

I've lost my bus pass once. (A 30-day pass, used only 8 days) But it miraculously came back the next day.

So I've been all surprised/happy for 2 weeks now and here's the irony. On the day my Nampa office closed, I came home to a phone message from a nurse friend. She works at Midland Care & Rehab where their head medical biller had just walked off the job. #2 biller was promoted, leaving a vacancy. Was I interested? (Let's see--Midland Care is about 2 miles from home. Yes, I am interested.) Then the administrator called me. We set up an interview, but in the meantime I started work in Boise and found I liked it. I tell you, there is nothing so sweet as a fact finding interview when you're not desperate. Bottom line: We are not exactly perfect for each other, but if they want to make an offer, I'm willing to compare apples to apples (salary/paid time off) and make a decision. Another week has passed. They haven't called back I am happy with that too. I mentioned I could give them a list of a dozen other women more suited to the job. Whatever happens, everybody wins. Then I dropped my bus pass in the administrator's office, though I didn't know it until the next day.

Anyway, the past year and half of job fretting and stewing is gone and good riddance to it. Actually I feel really blessed to be able to keep my job, my great boss, and the new corporation chose a building site 1/2 block from the bus stop on this side of Boise, which allows me to get to work by 7:30. If they had chosen anywhere else..........I guess I'd be begging for that care center job.

ha ha The care center had a black labrador lolling on the black leather couch in the admin's office. I was told "if the dog licks your hand, you get the job." He didn't.

------change of subject-----
Chanel treated Kevin & I to "Wicked." WOWOWOWOWOWO!!!!! I told her I have to go again watch it from backstage. The stagecraft was as fascinating as the story.