Home Safe!

Paul and Freddie made their annual summer motorcycle ride safely. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I hear the motorcycle drive up. This time it was the pickup with the cycle on a trailer pulling in.

They had a great time, lots of fun stories. Paul posted some pictures on his vtmbottomline blog.

We bought a new digital camera before they left so they could take some good pictures. This is one of them. We're also having fun figuring out all of our photo-editing computer stuff. Doing pretty well.

Handsome is now home, safe and sound.
Yeah.
MB

Motorcycle Ride

This picture was taken a few years ago, but it shows our black Honda Goldwing and shows us in our leathers. It also reminds me of how fun it is to ride behind my "handsome feller" and go cross country on our bike. We've been to Colorado and South Dakota on trips where all we took was what we could get in and on our bike.

Monday, Paul and Freddie, my brother, are taking off on their annual summer bike ride. This year they are going to go to the East Coast and ride the Blueridge Parkway. They're going to be gone about ten days. We thought about my going with them, but I decided I couldn't be away from my job that long at this time. So I'm not going. I'll just have to enjoy this trip vicariously.

A couple of thoughts: Paul's and Fred's safety is always uppermmost in my mind while they're gone. AND, when I don't go, something major always happens around here.

The safety thing: We had a bad motorcycle wreck a few years ago, so I know this can happen. And in our travels we've come across some bad motorcycle wrecks. When I went to motorcycle school and got my motorcycle license, I learned that motorists in cars don't seem to see motorcycles on the road, so there are several precautions to take as you are driving; it's totally defensive driving. My point: it's the other guy who's almost always at fault in motorcycle/car accidents. Thus, my concern. But these two guys have become good, rather excellent, defensive drivers.

The catastrophic happenings: Last year when they took off, our house flooded on the very day they took off. I had to call Paul back before he really even got started. The year before nothing happened at home, but Paul had a stroke the second day out. I took off work and drove to TN to cart him home. The year before that, the air conditioning went out the day he left. See what I mean? Wonder what it will be this year?

But, I believe that's called "worrying."

"Don't worry; be happy!" That's my theme for these next few days. I'm looking forward to Paul's having a great time and hope to enjoy his trip through his phone calls and maybe his digital pictures.

Bottomline: In a way, all of life is a risk. To enjoy or to worry is a choice. I have chosen to enjoy and plan to do so. Happy Travels to Paul and Fred. May they have the best trip they've ever had! Fun, fun. I'll miss being with them.
MB

Some Teenage Marriages Do Last!

Paul was 18 years old and I was 17 years old! May 28, 1959, was the special day we two were wed.

Now, 48 years later, we do look a little different.













It's been quite a trip together, four decades plus eight! We've weathered a lot, good things and bad. Today we are enjoying life as never before. It's been a great journey, and we're not at the end yet. Could it get any better? I wonder.

Happy 48th Anniversary, Handsome.
MB

Today Is Mother's Day

I like to know how things started. The following two paragraphs describe how our Mother's Day in America started (taken from Grace Fellowship daily e-letter).

One hundred years ago, during the month of May in 1907, Anna Jarvis handed out hundreds of carnations at her church on a Sunday morning in memory and honor of her mother. In addition to being a great human being and mother, Anna's mother had organized mothers during the civil war to improve sanitary conditions for the soldiers.

One hundred years later we honor mothers also during the month of May on the nationally recognized Mothers' holiday. It has become a sixteen billion dollar commercial holiday, a fact that would have horrified Anna Jarvis. In fact, about 23 years after Anna had passed out carnations at her church, the day that later was declared Mother's Day, Anna actually filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day celebration that she felt had become too commercialized. Something that Anna had done as a way to show her gratitude and love for her mother soon became an obligation to others.

My mother will be 90 years old this November. She birthed 12 children, raised 11, and has buried one of those 11. She's called Virgie by many of her offspring, Grandma Cherry by 41 grandchildren and by too-numerous-to-count great grandchildren, and this month will become a great-great grandma. It's fun to say to her, "Happy Mother's Day. I love you."

Paul's mother will be 89 on Tuesday. Yesterday he and his sister and brother took Grandma West to their favorite hamburger place and celebrated Mother's Day and her birthday with other friends and relatives who came. They had a good time.

One day in Sunday School a few years ago, the teacher asked the class if they thought Mother's Day was a good thing to have or was it just a commercialized holiday so merchants could make money. This question made several people angry that it would have even been asked. The answers were varied and interesting and on both sides. It was thought provoking, and I've always thought back to that question when Mother's Day rolls around.

I'm a Mother and have already received Mother's Day gifts and cards. I think I celebrate my motherhood more by being glad my children survived my bumbling parenting and have all become responsible adults to be proud of, rather than being glad my children remembered me on this day.

I'm very glad that we've had another year to enjoy our Moms being with us. Today is a great day to rejoice and be glad.
Have a good one!
MB

This Blog Content Is Changing

I've decided to quit posting personal family news items on this blog. I've established our own Burleson Family blog on MyFamily.com, and I've invited our children and grandchildren to become members. It's a really great site! You can keep a family calendar and family news and all the good stuff that everyone enjoys knowing, family that is.

Reasons: Two of my close friends told me the other day that they always read Paul's blog, but rarely read mine. I usually only get comments from my family. So, upon reflection, I decided to do personal and family items on this private blog and for family members' eyes only. That way I thought some of the grandkids and other family members might be more prone to comment and post, if they thought the whole world wasn't reading it. ;-)

Another reason is that I want to enter the world of posting about ideas and theological discussions and other similar items. I was going to start another blog for that purpose, but chose to go this route.

If you're reading this and have enjoyed following our family news and want to continue, let me know. There are ways. . .

MB

Where's Grams?

In the dim and distant past
When the tempo wasn't fast,
Grandmas used to rock and knit,
Crochet, read, and babysit.

In those days of gracious living,
Grandmas were the ones for giving.
When the family was in a jam,
They could always count on "Grams!"

Today you'll find her at the gym,
Walking and cycling to keep trim.
Nothing these days seems to stop her,
Now that Grams is "off her rocker!"

I laughed and laughed when I read that little poem. It's so true and especially true of me, "Grams" to many. Maybe I'm not just an oddball. Maybe I'm more the "norm" than I realized.

I have been working on getting back in shape after a few years of "falling off the in-shape wagon." I walk on the treadmill and cycle every morning, doing at least three miles. I'm still watching very carefully what I eat. I'm almost at my goal I set way back in the middle of January. It hasn't been easy.

It was so hard to get in the "groove" of doing the above, that now that I'm "on a roll," I don't want to quit. A few people are now saying, "Okay, quit losing. You've lost enough. You're getting too skinny." Music to my ears. I haven't heard that in forever. ;-)

The downside of this is sometimes funny. I didn't realize how some clothes will not fit now. I recently went on a business trip to Atlanta and took my business suits. When I put the pants on of one suit, I couldn't keep them up! They just fell right off. My thought: how did this happen? I had no idea my shape had changed this much. Hmmmm. . .

So, I've had to buy clothes that fit. I had given away all my clothes of smaller sizes because I thought I was too old and I probably would never get back down that small. I found a sale at one of my favorite women's shops, close to the office, and they had a 75% off sale, then recently they advertised 25% more off. WOW! And I love their clothes. A clerk there helped me and I got clothes that fit. Now for the Herculean task of cleaning out all my old stuff. I'm such a packrat, and a "what if I need it later?" type person that this will take some time.

I've also been tanning so that this summer I can wear shorts and wear dresses without hose. (I hate those things.) Another funny thing: I saw some lotion at the drugstore that said it was a firming lotion and gave your skin a slight "glow." My thinking was that I would use this lotion and keep my skin looking good, so I was slapping that stuff on. One day at work I looked between my fingers and glanced down at my feet/ankles. Yikes! That lotion has a lot of that sunless tanning stuff in it and I was looking quite yellow, and perhaps orange in the crevices. Bummer! I had worked so hard on a real tan that trying to keep it looking okay had ruined the whole look. Well, get over that! LOL

Now, lest you envision me as a thin, shapely, tan, mature woman, be sure to emphasize the "mature" part, and you'll be close or at least in the ballpark if you leave out the word "shapely." Before I started all of this, I jokingly said to Paul, "Would you rather have my shape be 'flat belly and small boobs' or 'larger boobs and a full belly'?" And that seems to be the choice. Another bummer. Paul's response? He said, "I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole!!" Smart fellow. LOL

One of my daughters said to me recently, "Mom, not fair! You weigh less than I do." Then she asked me what size I wear and she replied that she wears smaller sizes than I do but weighs more. My response to her was that she's still young and has her weight in all the right places. The conclusion is obvious, LOL.

Morals of this post:
If you're calling "Grams" to babysit, cook, or knit, NOT!! ;-) This Grams is truly "off her rocker."
If you're a Grams-aged person, do what you can with what you have and just don't look in a mirror too often. ;-)
Life is good!!
MB

New Business Location

This last week was a very busy week at work.

We had some deadlines we had to meet the first part of the week. Wednesday we had to finish packing all of our "stuff" and be ready for the movers to come at 3 p.m. We made it and even worked in an hour of new phone training from 1 to 2.

One of our team members, who also worked with us before, was expecting her first child the first week of May. She was with us all day Wednesday, but didn't make it Thursday. She went to the hospital overnight and had her baby girl around noon on Thursday, three weeks early. This was the most exciting happening! We all feel like we're new aunts.

When our old company was sold, another senior editor and I partnered to keep some of the Editorial Services here in Norman and we worked for the new company. We rented a small two-room office that was probably less than 200 square feet. Small, small! I hired two women, he hired a girl, then the company hired an independent contractor who also worked out of our tiny space. When we were all there, we had to literally all shift if someone came in or if someone had to leave. It was tough!

My partner quit and we took over the whole little space. I hired another man, and he took the place my partner left. So, we were still quite crowded.

Corporate told us we could find a larger space. Yeah!! I sent Paul out office shopping. He found our place, just a few office doors down from a former OU Heisman trophy winner. Paul was sure this was our place. And, it was! We got it at an extremely reasonable price after I had to turn the building manager down because of the higher rent price he was asking. I think he really liked the looks of us, and worked hard to get us in.

We moved in the last of October in 2005. I had to hire a small moving team and truck and I had to handle all the details. We had to pack up everything and guide the movers and then go over to the new space and guide them in. I had to engage a local IT service, hire the wiring done for all the computers and faxes, etc. Later I had to buy routers and we ended up adding hubs in a couple of other places as we added personnel and printers, etc.

This new place was a fantastic 800 square feet plus in four different rooms. At the time there were four of us on the team who used the office, and we each had our own room and we split the largest room into an office and our break room. We had windows! The first day we just danced around all through it feeling like we could move and breathe. It was wonderful!

That December I hired a girl, now a woman, a home-schooled student whom I had tutored through math during high school. She's made a great worker and is still with us. Then we got more work and the company asked me to hire more people. I put out some "feelers" and soon I had hired six more women who used to work with us previously. And the guy I hired left. So, now we are a team of ten women.

Last spring the company kept giving me more and more work, and I tried to organize the projects and personnel and made charts and tables with the end dates and worked backwards. My conclusion was that my small staff could not get everything done by the deadlines that they were asking. I notified my supervisor a couple of times, but nothing was happening, so I sent in my resignation.

The CEO and the Senior Vice President hopped a plane and came and spent the day that same week, and they asked me what I needed and how I thought this job could get done. We worked it out, and I stayed on.

But the fun thing about this is that the day they were there, the air conditioning had been out for a couple of weeks and the building manager said they were working on it, but they had to order parts for the old ac's. We were in a second floor office and it was very, very hot. We had huge fans blowing everywhere, and we had to work with very little light because that generated heat. We even had a borrowed turbo fan (noisy) blowing from the hallway into our office, trying to blow in some cool air.

By then I had a roommate in my office and I sat up front in the receptionist area. There was absolutely no privacy, and it was hot, very hot, and it was kind of dark. Primitive conditions to say the least! I was worried about the "higher ups" having to visit us in those conditions, but it couldn't have worked out better.

The CEO said this was unacceptable and made a call to the Corporate real estate guy and the search for our new place started. He said I needed an office, and we needed much more space, and we needed a conference room with a conference phone.

That was about nine months ago, so it's been a slow process. But this last Thursday we moved into our new space. Here's how different it was. The "build-out" person from Austin has made several trips to Norman and she takes care of all the details including the move and the movers, and before this she took care of all the rebuilding of the space. A telephone person came in from Orlando, and an IT team came up from Austin, and they all spent the week last week getting everything ready and putting the finishing touches on.

Our job was to label everything and box up what needed boxing and label that also. We were to leave early Wednesday afternoon and to report to the new space Thursday morning. And that's how it happened. I'm not sure I would have appreciated all of that if we hadn't lived through our two previous moves. (What a difference a little time makes! and I need to add, I had become a fulltime employee by this time. ;-)

We are still pinching ourselves to see if this is real! We have such a fun team, we (really, they) make everything funny and fun.

Each team member has her "own space!" Cubicles, but it is their own space. And, their very own phone. We, the ten of us have shared one office phone for over a year. Team members have used their personal cell phones for their phone service at their desks. And not only do we have phones, but we have VOIP phones (voice over IP). This is supposed to be on the "cutting edge" of phone service these days. Corporate told us we're piloting for them these phones to see if they're feasible for all the other work places. How about that? These phones have some really fabulous features. Of course, getting used to them has been really fun. You can hear the different rings being tried out all over the office area.

And I have a four-wall office! With a door! And new office furniture! Wow! No more catching my clothes on the edges of the old furniture or breaking my wrist holding up the drawer because if I pulled it out too far, it falls off the tracks, and then it takes me awhile to get it fixed. All the drawers in the new desk work. Yeah!

And we have a conference room where we can have our team meetings. Unbelievable.

Best of all we have a large breakroom with a real frig, and we have a microwave, and cabinets where we can store things. WOW! And our own bathroom. Our very own bathroom, not a public one.

And for me, no more mountains of record keeping. Corporate is keeping all of the accounts and making the payments and dealing with all the building accounts, etc. It was fun doing it and I learned a lot, but it was time consuming. I'm so grateful for all the changes and for Corporate making it so much easier to do the job.

We're still getting used to things, and we're loving it. Did I mention that our new office space is still in the same complex (retail and office), but a different building. We still have walking access to Starbucks, and it's one of the prettiest and most sought after office locations in Norman (or so I'm told). Best of all, it's about a half mile from my house.

To conclude: I love my job. I have the absolutely best team anywhere! They are the greatest. And now, I love my place of work. It's perfect. Life is good!
MB

Googling, Movies, and History

This is really a challenge thinking of something to write a couple of times a week. You can see I'm not quite making it, but I logged on this morning determined! ;-)

I've been wondering if not having something to write about is a sign of a boring life. Maybe. But, maybe not. I have a lot of fun things happening in my life, but I have to respect the boundaries about writing about other people (spouse excluded), so often my writing is limited because I have a lot of interaction with others.

Have you ever read or heard the saying: Small people talk about other people. Average people talk about events. Intelligent people talk about ideas. (Paraphrased. It's something like that.)

I'm revealing my "averageness" by writing about events. But, hey, that's better than only writing about "people," right?

Event: we watch a lot of movies at our house, especially since we got a new high definition TV and the accompanying cable HDTV box. We download movies and we still rent movies from the local video store.

We've rented a lot of "bummers" and couldn't watch past five or ten minutes, so we had to review our selection process. We get pretty good ones if we go with the actors we like and/or if we go with movies based on "actual events." That's fascinating to both of us.

We're debating the best way to view the movie: research first, then watch; or watch first and then research. Paul's a history buff, in fact that was his major in college. I'm a history klutz. I cannot retain it and it seems very boring. This is probably due to the fact the high school coaches always taught history and no one ever made it fascinating. (Oops, how I do blame others.)

Paul and I have very different ways of thinking and of arriving at conclusions. His style is very well suited to understanding nuances and connecting links, etc. Mine is logical and mathematically oriented. If it doesn't logically make sense, I too often get lost. (Are we not the most unlikely couple to be a couple? ;-)

We've worked our differences well together over the years, and now we seem to work in tandem rather than in the boxing ring. (Another LOL) So, we mix what we do. He likes variety, I like sameness thinking that if it works well once, why change?

Sometimes we research first, but more often we "forget" to do that and then research afterwards. When we do the latter, the whole movie comes into focus for me, and it's then I wonder, "Why didn't we research first?" And then I laugh. Sometimes we're so goofy. Oh, well. . .

Back to movies: Recently we watched "A Show of Force." We researched after the movie and learned a lot. Wikipedia has some great articles. I like and can remember historical events this way. It needs to have life. Just reading dates and events in a book never did it for me. However, I do have to remember to release the fictionalized part and not keep that in my mind as actual historical fact.

Anyway, we highly recommend this little exercise about picking and viewing movies. Truth is so often "stranger than fiction."

Morals of this post (if there is such a thing, or grammatically correct, if there are such things):
You can Google anything, and learn a lot.
Movie selection is a process to be learned.
History can be enjoyed and retained.

So much for posts.
MB

Dancing with the Stars

I've just started watching this TV show. I knew it existed, and I've glanced at it before, but this year I'm watching it, really watching it.

One of my younger brothers is a real fan, and he's the most unlikely "dance watcher," but this is one of his favorite shows. If he liked it that much, I had to see what it was.

And now I'm a fan.

Why do I like that show? I'm not sure.

Is it because I love to dance?

Maybe. I was raised in a religion that prohibited dancing, so I was taught that it was wrong. However, when raising teenagers, we had to rethink that teaching. I rethought it so much, I rejected it, and I started dancing. I clog, which is a solo sport. My "handsome fella" and I have taken dance lessons and we dabble in Friday night dancing. I LOVE IT! My favorites are the waltz and the two-step. "I could dance all night!" So perhaps I am participating vicariously when watching Dancing with the Stars.

Is it because I'm fascinated that someone (the stars) can learn to dance a difficult dance in a week?

Maybe. I think my experience clogging helps me know how hard it is to learn a new dance. For me I first have to mentally tackle the steps and memorize the sequence. That's difficult. Then I have to master the actual physical steps, and that takes practice, practice, practice. Next is putting the steps with the music and making them synchronize. Another practicing element. Finally, I have to know the dance well enough so that when I'm onstage, my stage fright doesn't hinder the performance. See all those steps? That's not easy. And the stars learn and do all of that in one week! Amazing!

Is it because I know that dancing is a partner skill?

Maybe. That is not easy for someone who wants to be independent and not follow. Believe me, I know. I was so bad about this that my "handsome fella" walked off the dance floor away from me one time when I got so bossy with what he was supposed to be doing that he just gave up in frustration. Yikes! There's a whole lot to learn about relational working together on the dance floor. I'm better, but I still want to boss. I can't even imagine how the "stars" do this because they're so used to being in charge. Having to become the follower and a learner has to be difficult for famous people. It is fascinating.

Is it because one of my favorite sayings is "dance like no one is watching"?

Maybe. That's my theme, but the "stars" know that millions of people are watching. How hard is that? Very, I'm guessing.

Can you tell I do like the show. It's just fun. It's suspenseful: who will lose out and be gone? Do I agree? This season I missed it the first time, but I was right on the second couple. I'm getting to be a pretty good reviewer. I can tell a misstep; I can tell who connects with the audience; I can tell which couples are good together. Too fun!

No, this is not an advertisement for the show. This is a post that is just fun ramblings from a wanna-be dancer.
Hope you have a "feel like dancing" day.
MB

The Forever Stamp

Have you heard of the "forever stamp"?

Recently someone commented to me that postage had gone up. So yesterday when I needed to mail a letter, I "Googled" the cost of a postage stamp. It's still 39¢. That is, until May 14. Then it's going up to 41¢.

In this Web article I also read that when the postage goes up on May 14, you can also buy some "forever" stamps at 41¢ a stamp. That means you can use those stamps in the future no matter how high postage stamps go.

That caused me to ponder some. How will this work? Why are they doing this?

We have a great team in our office, so I posed that question to them. Here are some of their musings:

• How many of the "forever" stamps should we buy? I'll buy a whole lot and put them back and not use them until the postage goes over 41¢. (That's smart; wouldn't have thought of that.)

• Aha. I'll bet the post office is promoting this to get people to buy a whole lot of stamps instead of fewer stamps. (Think about that!) We've heard the post office is losing money because of people's using the Internet for e-mails and for paying bills. This, in a way, would promote people buying up for the future. Great promotional idea.

• Thinking about how this will work. We're guessing it will be a special printing with perhaps the word "forever" on it.

Isn't this the most interesting thing? You know, I thought "nothing is forever." I do believe in "eternal life" and living in heaven "forever" after death, but other than that, is anything forever? I guess now we can say we have "forever" stamps. I think that's funny, but interesting. Causes me to philosophize. LOL

Those are my thoughts for the day (not my "forever" thoughts ;-).
MB

Parents or Friends?

I thought I would branch out with this post on our blog and write about a relational principle that we have found to be controversial, but freeing for all involved.

That principle is this: When a child in the home becomes an adult and sets up his/her own home either singly or with a partner, then the parenting part of the Mother and Father ceases and the Mother and Father and adult children start establishing an adult friendship. If the parents are contributing financially to the child, then this condition is not yet fully met. This principle is applied when the child is separate financially and has separate living quarters. There is still some say in what children do as long as there is accountability in finances or in-home living.

Many people when they hear this thoroughly disagree. What I'm saying with this principle is that I will always be the Mother of my adult children, but I transition out of "parenting" them and begin to respect their individuality and their decisions and relate to them as equals, much as I do with my other adult friends. Acceptance and respect are the main characteristics of this relationship.

This is not an easy thing to do. I remember when I began to come to this, it was quite an eye opener to realize how much I was still parenting and giving advice. Some of my children were still seeking my approval. As we began to move away from this type of relationship it was hard. One of my children said to me, "I don't like this. You are my spiritual strength. I draw from you."

It was also strange for me because I still felt so responsible for my children's actions. But, as is usually the case, when one in a relationship stops the "relational games," it's as bad as too quickly jumping off the see-saw on the playground. It leaves the other with a strong jolt and no one left to go back and forth with. I think we as a family did okay because we talked and discussed this while the relational transitioning was happening.

Some of the wonderful benefits of this relationship with your adult children are (at least in our experience):
• We are equals. I've learned as much from my adult children as they ever learned from me. It's amazing!
• We are both responsible for our own actions. I am neither responsible nor to blame for their decisions as adults. How freeing, both for me and for them.
• We have all dealt with our expectations. I've worked on mine to get rid of them, and I think they have theirs also.
• When we're together, we can truly enjoy the fun and fellowship. Early on that wasn't true. It seemed when we walked in the door to be together, we all picked up the relationships they had when they were children in the home. That was not good nor was it enjoyable. I think we all realized we wanted something better, not the typical "have to go home, but can't wait to get away" relationship.

There are many other benefits, too numerous to mention.

We've had a lot of criticism from our friends and other family members about this approach, and many have told us how wrong they think we are. Interestingly, our four children tell us often they are glad we have come to this in our family. They say they listen to some of their friends complain about their parents and they're so glad we're at least walking this route in our journey.

I would love for some of our children to speak to this in the comments section on this blog, but since I respect their time and have no expectations, I consider this an invitation if they want to. If they don't, well, hey, that's what it's all about. ;-) And the reason for the invite is: It's one thing for me to say it, and it would be a special treat to hear how they think about it and how it's affected them.

For that matter, it would be good to have a "blog discussion" about this relational principle. Several people tell me they read this blog, but not too many (hardly any) stop by long enough to post a comment. Doesn't matter, it's fun to write.
MB

Plane Schedules and Stress

I've set a goal of trying to write twice a week on this blog. It's a loose goal, but one I would like to try and keep.

The most recent thing that's happened to me and thus it's fresh on my mind is my flight home last night from Austin. Thought I would write about it.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:05 p.m. To save the $50 taxi ride from the office to the airport, I hitched a ride with two other people with whom I had meetings. We headed out to the airport at 2 p.m. because the first flight one needed to catch was at 3:30 and the second was at 4 p.m.

First stress of the day was that a huge storm came into Austin about 1:30 p.m. Lightning, thunder, and heavy rain. That was fun trying to load luggage and drive through that rain the several miles to the airport. We made it just getting a little damp. But when we turned in the rental car, it was quite a walk from the lot to the airport pulling your luggage and dodging the huge puddles of rain on the ground plus getting soaked from the falling rain. Fun, fun!!

The other two travelers with me had no problems with their flights. Reason: one went to Aspen CO and the other to Orlando; neither went through Dallas. We had gone up to the Admiral's Club, and each of them left from there to go to their gate. So I just relaxed and waited there as long as I could. Those clubs are really nice and relaxing.

So about 4 p.m. I headed down to my gate. Oops. Flight delayed was flashing and time was reset for 5:30. I noticed an earlier flight at the same gate that was to leave at 2:35 was still sitting there. Hmmmm. . .That was not a good sign.

Soon the flashing sign just posted a brand new flight number and destination. I go out and look at the big sign with all the Arrivals and Departures, and they have changed my flight to a new gate. I alert the others waiting with me and we move to the second gate. We wait another hour plus and here comes our plane. Yeah!

But, bad sign number two: a maintenance man with a big light and a ladder starts going over the front of the plane while it's parked at the gate. My thought: oh, no, they're going to say we have mechanical problems. It was worse. Problem: that plane was hit by lightning upon landing and they would have to take at least an hour to check all the electronics. Within ten minutes we were told this plane was out of service and they were working on what to do with us.

At this time I noticed that the 2:35 flight at my original gate was still sitting there. It had not taken off. The couple next to me kept calling their relative in Fort Worth asking how the weather was. That big storm was going through Dallas/Fort Worth, so we got an update about every thirty minutes.

Soon, but not very soon, we were sent to another gate, our third gate. There we were combined with another fallout group holding green plastic cards. They had been waiting longer than we had been, so they got to board first. So much for being No. 1 on my boarding pass and standing in the A line to get a good seat. Now, it's like being in Line C.

One other tidbit: I was keeping Paul posted on my cell phone about each delay so he wouldn't waste his time sitting at the airport. I kept telling him not to leave home until I was taking off (not just landing) in Dallas. DO NOT!! Problem: My cell phone was losing power. Great! I thought it had a full charge. So, I plugged it in to charge up in the waiting area. When we changed gates, I completely forgot about it. Another, oh great!! Had to run all the way back and unplug and grab it and hurry to get back in line, hoping against hope that I had enough charge to stay in touch with Paul. (By now I'm thinking, what else could go wrong.)

Finally, they said they had found a plane and we were going to load up and take off. This was after they told us we had to all go through the process of changing our boarding passes. We moved to a different area and lined up all the way down the hall. The first person processed took over ten minutes. Being the math person that I am, I am quickly calculating how long it's going to take them to process fifty to sixty people. I would like to tell them this is a bad plan, it's not working. I just tell the people around me that. Before they get the second person processed, they came to the same conclusion and told us to never mind, they were going to try to do this without changing everyone's passes. Yeah!! But they asked us to just stay in line and they will guide us when we're to move.

In the meantime, another phase of storm is going through. The lightning is everywhere and lighting up the whole sky. Austin has been in a terrible drought and it is pouring rain. I'm glad for them, but wondering why I had to be there for the rain to come! JK

Finally, finally they board us. All the green plastic cards go first. We are at maximum capacity, and wouldn't you know. A large man sits in the middle seat and immediately claims both arm rests. I'm scrunched to the window, and I'm freezing. The day had started out very warm and I had packed my raincoat. Smart planning. The flight from Austin to Dallas was worse than a roller coaster. We traveled through lightning and so much rain that it looked like it was snowing outside. All the attendants had to stay strapped in.

We land in Dallas, but because of the erratic flight schedules delayed by weather, there are five planes ahead of us waiting for gates. More delays. I was really doing a number on myself to calm down, relax, take naps, relax, read a chapter, relax. That's harder than it sounds. Plus, I'm not going to drink water and make sure I'm hydrated, because there's not easy access to the lavatory or restroom. Nothing in, nothing has to come out. That was my reasoning. Isn't that bright? JK

Finally, finally we are up in the air going from Dallas to OKC and it's smooth and we're heading home. Boy, was I tired. Probably about as tired as you are reading this, LOL. I'm still freezing, freezing. I sit on my hands, I tuck my hands under my arms, I try to sit on my feet (no socks). I start dreaming of a warm bath and that wonderfully very warm, almost hot (in a temperature sense, and others ;-), body of my handsome feller. Hey, Handsome, I'm coming, I'm coming!!

The good thing about all of this is the airlines I was on. Southwest! They are the best at customer service and trying to make all of these delays as easy as possible on you. I've been on other airlines through this kind of mess and it was not handled nearly as well. The other good thing about this incident is that none, zip, nil, not one of the passengers got ugly. They were all very nice and understanding and did as told. I heard no griping. In fact, one guy spoke loudly to the attendant handling all of this that we all appreciated her and her graciousness. Very nice.

I landed in OKC about 11:15 p.m. I had arrived at the airport in Austin at 2:30 p.m. earlier that day. That's almost nine hours at the airport or on an airplane. A full day's work! LOL It's only a five and a half hour drive! In fact, one girl asked if anyone would go with her to rent a car and drive to OKC. No takers. She also stayed.

Moral of this story: When you can't think of a blog subject, write about your flight. Hopefully others will read and think about their day yesterday and realize it wasn't so bad after all. ;-)

Bottom line: Arrived home safely, albeit tired and hungry and have a real compassion for people who have to travel a lot in their business. Sometimes, quite challenging!
MB

Daylight Savings Time and Other Changes

This Sunday we "spring forward" one hour and go on DST. Losing that hour is quite a change. My metabolism has difficulty adjusting although the "fall back" to regular time in the fall is more difficult.

However my physical body adjusts, I also do some adjusting with every season change; for that matter, I have to do some adjusting to every change that occurs.

Some changes that are difficult, I adjust to but don't fully realize how I've adjusted. The last few years have had some traumatic changes for me.

The job I loved was taken away because the company was bought and the great facility we had was sold. I stayed on with the new company and had a huge learning curve and became an office manager, a properties facility overseer, an HR person, etc., etc. Actually I loved it, but I never go into change confidently and excitedly, but I do love to learn. All the changes have been good and I'm in my third year with the new company.

However that new company was just merged with another branch of the big company, and the two people who hired me and who have been phenomenal supports are no longer with this company. Change, change, change!!

And in the last five years we've had some major changes within our immediate family. Some changes were very hard for me and I didn't perform well with some of the principals, my dear loved ones. However, they have forgiven me and we've moved on to re-establish and re-connect.

And in the last six months I started having a few little health problems, like a fractured hip with unknown cause. Whoa! This is not in my plans for my healthy senior years. What I'm seeing in hindsight is that I've let my physical health go and have pretty much eaten my way through all the comfort foods and slowly but surely gained weight and gotten out of shape. Terrible way to handle change and deal with stress. But that was my choice and the consequences began to show.

So, time to take stock and to do some reworking. Here's the plan: Get this physical body back in shape, and quit taking out my emotional stress and distress on my body and get back in shape.

BUT! This is so blankety-blank HARD!! But success is around the corner!

My goals:

Get back down to my best weight, which is a few pounds below what the insurance charts say I should weigh. I wanted to do it healthily, so I've set a goal of losing two pounds a week. I weigh every Saturday morning and write down my weight. So far, it's working and I've reached each weekly goal. But this is not an easy thing to do. Question: Why is it so dang hard to take off one pound and so cotton-pickin' easy to put on two? I'm six weeks into it and have about six weeks to go. I'm committed!!

Get that injured hip back to being a healthy joint. I've started clogging again and though it was painful at first, I can now do most of the steps. The skip, hop, and slide steps were the hardest. The first time I tried it I was scared I had reinjured that joint. But soreness left and it's much better. I'm also doing one mile on the treadmill every morning and two miles on the bike. That's a have-to every day. No days of rest on this one. I take the stairs always, and try to run up them instead of trudging up. ;-) At first I was a little breathless, but now I feel like a spring chicken! Well, almost --

Get a healthy look: I've started tanning. The last two years I didn't wear shorts because I was so whitey white. I'm becoming a golden tan, although a little wrinkled ;-) and that's after getting a little red. Yesterday at work some of the team said, "Are you tanning?" It's becoming obvious. Yeah. I don't recommend this to anyone because of the dangers. However, I'm choosing to do this and I like it. Someone asked me, "Why are you doing this?" My answer: "Just because I want to and I feel better when I have a little color." Actually, I don't owe anyone an explanation. Should I have said, "What's it to you?" Oops. One of my other goals is to try to be respectful and polite. JK

Well this post is a little bit of a confessional, isn't it? One of my other goals is to try and post midweek and weekend on this blog; i.e., twice a week. This morning I could think of absolutely nothing to write. The above is probably too personal to tell the world, but hey, what the heck.

A few years ago Paul and I did much the same thing as I'm doing now. We had a goal of his high school reunion. We wanted to look good. (Isn't that funny how that's true of a lot of people. No one wants to look their age at reunions and thinks everyone else looks so old. ;-) We did pretty well, in fact so well, one of our granddaughters said that she didn't like Grams and Papaw looking so good, almost like movie stars. She preferred them looking normal (like white and fat)? LOL Hey, I like the first part; as if we ever really did look like movie stars, but that's a worthy goal in itself, isn't it? Look like movie stars to your grandkids. JK again.

So if and when you see me again, you'll obviously know whether I achieved my goals. (Remember: looking like a movie star is not one of my stated goals. That's a serendipity and a one-time statement from a granddaughter who was recovering from an illness, maybe not in her right mind. LOL)

I may be successful, I may not. I think I'm learning that most of the fun in life is the journey to, not reaching the end. Is that a copout or a good philosophy? I'll bet you have your own opinion.

We'll see. Thanks for reading.
MB

P.S. For those who don't know, JK stands for Just Kidding in Web lingo (or so I'm told).

March 4–A Special Birthday

Sunday, March 4, is the birthday of a very special person. Our sixth grandchild, Dara, will be 19 years old tomorrow. Unbelievable!

I remember well the day Dara was born. No one was prepared for anything being wrong. I'm from a family of eleven children, my older sister has ten children, I have four. Point being--we're a family who have had lots of babies and it's just part of life, no big deal. And very few of the births had any problems with the Mom or the child.

So, when Dara was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalis, it was pretty traumatic. Her head was triple the size it should be and the doctor said there was no brain activity. I was told the doctor had said, "This is not a human being. Let it die."

He said that to the attending medical personnel. I remember standing over the baby crib in the hospital nursery, silently weeping, and listening to the little non-human being whimpering like a little kitten. I had a lot of questions for God at that time such as, "If this is not a human being, what am I looking at?" Wonder why I believed that doctor? Don't think I really did, but I had questions.

Nothing seemed to be moving in the care of Dara, so her parents began asking questions, and they were told by a medical person not connected with the hospital to quickly get her transferred to Children's Hospital in Dallas. It was there we learned that much should have been done for Dara within the first 24-hours of her life. It was there we were told Dara would be paralyzed from her mid-chest down if they operated, but if they did nothing her chances to live were not very good. Her parents immediately said to do everything that could be done for her so she would live. The doctors in Dallas immediately took action and Dara was properly taken care of.

When the water was drained off Dara's brain and a permanent shunt was installed, her brain became normal size once the pressure of the water was gone. Much of Dara's spine and the connecting nerves, etc., were on the outside and unprotected. The doctors had to cut that away and quickly cover the exposed spine and nerves to prevent infection. Result: paralysis and they removed her ever having the ability to walk.

Those were Dara's beginnings. A new experience for our family. Traumatic but growth material. And that was just the beginning for all of us, especially for her Mom.

Some of the things I've learned by being Dara's grandmother: I've gained such an appreciation for families who have handicapped children; before Dara, I had an aversion to people who were handicapped, now I am drawn to them to relate to them, such a difference. I've learned that Dara can read people better than most people read books. Result? I can't get away with anything with her. She will call me on anything that remotely looks or feels like "spin" or deceit. Yikes! That's scary and funny at the same time.

Tomorrow Dara will be 19! This May she will graduate from high school. She's learning to be self-reliant. Just recently, Dara underwent some surgeries so she could take care of her personal needs without help. Dara's very active in her church. When we visited her church, we were surprised to see her acting as a Greeter in the entrance area. She also helps her Mom with the children's choirs. Recently for a class in school she had to spend a day with someone doing their job. She "interned" with their church worship leader. Dara entered a school election and won! Dara seems to know no limits to what she can accomplish. She's an inspiration to all of us.

So, Happy Birthday to a very, very special young lady! She has plans to celebrate all weekend. She told me recently that she loves having a birthday on the weekends because she can celebrate three days instead of one.

Dara always asks me if she's my favorite granddaughter, and I have to reply, "You're one of my favorites. I have others, you know." She insists she's my favorite! That's rather a joke between us.

One day a few months ago, Dara called and said she needed help. She'd had an accident and her Mom was out of town. I told her I would be there in fifteen minutes, as soon as I could get there. When I walked in the front door, Dara said loudly, "Thank God for Grams!" That's one of my favorite memories with Dara.

And, to conclude: Thank God for Dara. She's definitely a gift from Him, and she has enhanced all of our lives.

Happy 19th Birthday to you, Dara. You're a very special granddaughter (and one of my favorites ;-).
MB aka Grams

Stress and Massages

On my last birthday I was given a great gift by one of my children--five one hour massages at the health club where we are members.

Last Saturday I finally used the first gift certificate. What a treat!

I was feeling really good about how stress free I was. My neck and shoulders seemed relaxed and free. I wasn't having any muscle burn, which happens to me often when I'm tense. I had hydrated well as suggested before the massage.

My mistake: As she was working on my back and shoulders, I asked the certified massage therapist what condition my muscles were in. Her response: "You would be the Mount Everest to massage therapists." Huh? I replied with what does that mean? She replied that I was so layered with stress and tension that it would take her a long time to even get down to the knots in my muscles. Again, get down to? What does that mean? Found out a physical body can adjust to stress over a long period of time and the inhabitor of that earthsuit not even be aware of what's happening!

I was shocked. And I was motivated. I think you can "Google" search anything, so off I went on a search for stress, its effects, how to handle it, and what to do. Hmmm. . . I was especially fascinated with all the articles that were entitled, "Stress–-the Silent Killer." Another hmmm. . .

Then another thought captured me. If I was a certified massage therapist and wanted more business, what would I tell a client/patient? Of course. I'm slow, but I do come around. LOL Conclusion: Take everything with a grain of salt. I'm good! No problem, but I sure do like those massages.

(Thanks, Cherri. Great gift!)

One final thought in this train of thought: I found out something I didn't know. I'll pass on my tidbit of info. In OK you don't have to go to school, you don't have to be certified, you don't have to be licensed to be a massage therapist. My Saturday therapist kept emphasizing that she was certified. She explained the difference to me. She said I could go out and open up an office tomorrow with absolutely no training or state requirements and say I'm a massage therapist. There's current legislation being proposed in OK to change this.

From now on, I will always ask that question; i.e., are you certified? A couple of years ago my handsome feller bought me four one-hour massage gift certificates. The massages were little more than a weak back rub. I found out later that that particular "massager" was a hair stylist and when she needed extra money, she booked massages. She was bad!! (and that's not used in the popular sense of being great; she was really bad, B A D, bad)! ;-)

I'm looking forward to next Saturday's massage. Absolutely wonderful. I may have to sign up for weeklies. But, good wife that I am, I am sharing my certificates with my handsome feller. He's booked next week also. He'll love it. She'll probably tell him that he's the most relaxed person she's worked on. That's the way things usually are with us. Oh, well. Life is still good, fun, and exciting. And sometimes absolutely funny!
MB

Movies and the Macs

My younger sister Jenny has a reversal going on. Most people as they get older have only memories of the good old, exciting days. Not Jenny and Tom.

I told her yesterday that most of the really exciting things that have happened to her are happening in her older age. She laughed and said she just didn't know if she was going to be able to handle it all.

The latest event in this exciting real-time serial is that a movie star came to Cornforth road yesterday and conversed with the Macs about an upcoming movie and how their place is perfect for part of the shooting of the movie. He became aware of this possibility through his friendship with both the Mac boys out in CA. He bragged and bragged on both of them. That's very good for parents to hear.

The older movie star is actually going to direct the movie and his son-in-law, who is the younger Mac's good friend, is going to be the star of the movie. Shooting is scheduled to be done this May and June. They talked about putting horses on the land. They checked out having enough electrical connections to handle all the outside outlets they will need to do the outdoor shooting, etc. They're spending the week getting lots of contracts in place and all that goes with putting together a movie. They told the Macs they'll call them later in the week perhaps to have dinner together.

Is this not exciting? The Macs new place is also being looked at for another aspect of the movie, not their actual house, but the addition. The two movie stars told the Macs that they're all going to have a good time and a lot of fun making this movie. Can you believe it?

The girls at the office think they're working with a real live famous person. Almost every day Jenny comes in with some new story or something exciting that is happening. Sometimes she's a little embarrassed (usually about the gifts given to them) and doesn't want me to share everything, but I ignore her and share all. She gets over it. LOL

Just to remind everyone: A couple of years ago Jenny's highschool class traveled to NASA where one of their classmates is a high-up executive. He got them in to places otherwise not available to the public. At that time there were astronauts in space and Jenny was chosen to get to speak to them. She made the front page of the Edmond Sun on this adventure.

See what I mean? Things like this usually happen to a person when they're young and adventurous. And it's way too fun to be a sister and friend and get to hear all about it and enjoy it with her. Funny, but we laugh and laugh together when each new thing happens. Yesterday I said to her, "Instead of your moving to CA, CA is coming to you!" Laugh, laugh, laugh. Tis true, tis true.

Actually, these fun and exciting events could not happen to a better or more deserving couple. I look forward to hearing all about the movie making and sharing in the excitement as a friend. It's fun.

Just wanted to share with you. Often I think of the old saying, Truth is stranger than fiction; in this case, Truth is more exciting and more fun than reality TV, at least for the Macs and friends who share their excitement.
MB

The Twenty-One Eleven Disease

Last week when we went to Kade's basketball game we grabbed a sandwich after I got home from work. Paul ate a meat and cheese sandwich, and I ate my favorite, a peanut butter sandwich-loaded with peanut butter-with a stalk of celery. Mmmm, mmmm, so good.

About an hour later while I was talking with Rachelle, I became deathly nauseous and broke out in a sweat. She didn't know it, but I leaned over to Paul and said that I didn't know if I could get out of the gym in time to "toss my cookies." I was so sick. But, mind over matter. I breathed deep and deeper and deeper still. Told my stomach to calm down and that I was not, I was not going to add to the stink in the gym. I was not! And I made it. It passed. Barely. That was a new, strange feeling. That never ever happens to me.

For several days in a row before that I would feel sickly in the morning. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I remember telling myself, all I'm eating in the morning is a peice of toast with a little peanut butter and taking my vitamins. But I was fighting a bad stomach most mornings. Paul also was having stomach problems.

We didn't make any connection with anything. Just thought we were having a hard time.

Then out came the news about the bad peanut butter. It took awhile to make the connection, but I finally did when I saw a little kid from a family in Edmond who said, "I just throwed it up." Bingo! Suddenly everything fell into place. Oh, my gosh! Sure enough. We checked and we had a large peanut butter jar that was one third gone with the number on top that began 2111... (That's what I'm calling the twenty-one eleven disease. Get it? ;-)

Our compensation? I don't think it's worth it to send in for a rebate on the cost of the peanut butter. That to me is just a hassle. But it's certainly good to know we don't have some bad, bad disease that's making us sick all the time. Who would have ever guessed? Anyway, all is well and since I quit eating that jar of peanut butter, I'm feeling a ton better! I'm not going to give up peanut butter; I'm just going to watch my brands for awhile.

Moral of this story: Can't think of a good one, except that we sure do have a lot of faith in our food processing system in this country. Never even crossed my mind that something could be wrong with the peanut butter. Perhaps a good moral is this: Nothing's sure; nothing's pure; Keep that in mind; and don't be fooled.

Perhaps a fun thing to do: If you read this blog, try your hand at a story moral and write it in the comments. We could have some fun out of this.
MB

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. A very special day for those of us who have a valentine in our life.

I thought I would do one of those goofy acrostic tributes to my valentine. Not that he's goofy, but I've always thought those poems or articles that spelled a word vertically and then let each letter stand for something were pretty goofy, and I still do; but goofy as it is, here goes:

A Tribute to my Valentine

V is for valor; isn't that bravery? He's not a soldier, but he is brave. He's lived with me all these years!

A is for amourous; did I spell that right? Isn't that French for loving? My valentine wrote the book on being a good lover!!

L is for laughing; Paul has the best laugh. I usually laugh at his laugh, not his jokes. ;-)

E is for energy; energetic is his middle name.

N is for near; my valentine stays near, emotionally and physically. Great gift.

T is for teaser; he gets this glint in his eye and I know he's up to something.

I is for initiator; Paul is a big picture guy and he loves to initiate new and better things.

N is for nice; the guy is just plain nice; nice as all get out! (That's Okie for through and through.)

E is for encourager. He is known as a man's man and the encourager of ministers.

Well, there it is. A goofy acrostic to say "Will you be mine, you great Valentine?" To PB from MB

And I must tell you why I need to pay special tribute to him:
A few weeks ago we planned a weekend trip Friday through Sunday to celebrate Valentine's Day, I have enough air miles and enough motel awards to take a free trip for two. We had everything arranged to go to Padre Island and visit friends. BUT, a glitch at work caused me to have to cancel.

Not to be deterred, Paul planned a very special surprise for me to come to the office on Tuesday--a dozen red roses and a box of chocolates! Big surprise. Even a bigger surprise was when I told him I had to go to Austin on Monday and be there the rest of the week. He couldn't change his order due to high volume, so he merely came to the office on Monday and asked the eight women there if they would be his Valentine. They said yes, and he told them they would be receiving roses and chocolates and to enjoy. Even the FedEx guy whom we call FedEx Larry, who was the deliverer, had a song ready to sing to me. Oh, what I missed. Anyway. . .

Then Paul came to Austin with me. Everyone on the team I'm on was staying to work late on Tuesday night. However, at this point I told my supervisor, I'm leaving. I knew I could not frustrate my handsome feller, my special Valentine, one more time. I did not work late and we went to a super nice restaurant, dressed up, and had a great meal and a good Valentine celebration. I thought if I let work interfere one more time, I might not have a Valentine next year! Think? JK

One more thing: We figured out that this year is our 50th year to be sweethearts! Huh? How can that be? But it is. We met in 1957, both teenagers, and never dated anyone else. Married one and a half years later, so this is our 48th Valentine's Day together as a married couple, but our 50th as Valentines. Yikes, yikes yikes!! How did we get to be this old? But, hey, life is good when you have a wonderful, handsome feller, for a Valentine! Happy Valentine's Day PB. Love you much. MB

Fun February Friday Family Facts

February 14 is coming. My valentine sweetheart for the last 49 years is still my favorite! Paul and I met in the winter of 1957 so we're almost at the 50 year mark to start celebrating all our firsts. Incredible! But fantastic! Lots of wonderful memories, as well as many change points and growth. I call him "my handsome feller" so often that the women at work will tell me my handsome feller is waiting or on the phone. Too fun.

This is Friday, and I thought I would post a few fun happenings/events.

Tonight at Norman High, Kade's team from Enid is playing. Papaw and I are going and Cherri said the Moxleys might try to make it. She's checking with Mike. Watching Kade play is always fun and reminiscent of watching our kids in sports, Mel in volleyball (Mel, please note I listed you first!); Brett in baseball, basketball, and football; and Wade in football. We have missed going to all the sports events. Fun times in our lives.

Today Brett's work staff is moving into their new office building, which is located very close to where he is now but much larger and brand new. Fun! Brett is doing so well in his job and says he is loving it.

Paul just finished at FBC in Durant with James and Judy. He really enjoyed it and got to see Justin and Joni and her husband and child. The church was very responsive. Some old friends were in some of the services. Jackie and Jimmy Gee from Southcliff came to one of the Sunday services and one of the Midgette girls of the Mundlin family in Wichita Falls came up to Paul on Wednesday evening. My, my how time is flying and little kids are growing up. The weekend before, Paul was in Alabama with Jeff Hatcher for a three-day conference. Got caught up on all that's been happening with Jeff and his family. Paul's ready for some time at home and some rest. Me, too. It's hard when he's gone. I don't have a handsome feller doing my honey-do errands. ;-)

This Saturday is the start-up date for Grandma Cherry's cleaning service via the Bullard girls. Most of you grandkids got an e-mail or a note from Aunt Jenny. She and I are the co-conspirators in this fun project. I'm the producer and she's the director, meaning I'm financing this (with others having opportunities to contribute) and she's doing all the work. Not a bad setup. Mother is 89 years old, will be 90 this year. We expected a fight about this because she's pretty stubborn about accepting help. Amazingly she's very excited. We'll have to be careful that she's not excited about having company in the house and tries to engage the girls in visiting instead of cleaning. Can you believe we have an 89-year-old Mother/Grandma who is still driving, going to art lessons, and resists having help? Hmmm. . . Quite a model for us all to follow.

Graduation days are fast approaching. This spring Kade will graduate from Enid HS and Rachelle will graduate from college, nursing school. Dara will graduate from Norman HS and has already had her graduation picture made. Wow, can you believe it? And Beth will soon graduate from cosmetology school.

And last, and least, I'm getting back on my feet from my hip ailment, whatever it was. There's been some trouble with getting the bills paid through insurance. Just another hassle. But on the brighter side, I'm doing my walking on the treadmill and I've slowly started back to clogging. I do well until I get carried away and forget that I'm an old lady acting like a young lady. Yikes! Sometimes pretty painful. Painful in my body and probably pretty painful to watch, LOL.

Happy Friday to you. Hope you have a good one.
MB

Proud New Mac Owner

Saturday we went shopping.

We came home with a Mac Pro iBook (laptop) and a 30" display screen. JM bought the Mc's a large display and it is really nice, especially for old eyes.

We were checking out, having picked out a desktop and a regular size display screen, and I commented I had really wanted a large display, and Paul said he had really wanted me to get a laptop. So Mark, the good salesman that he was, started over with us. And we ended up with exactly what we wanted. So fun!

I've got the laptop working easily, but I don't have my e-mail changed over to the cox account. I do temporarily have a .mac account with the same name, so I'm not totally off line, but I'm not in my comfortable settings yet. ;-)

I don't have the display screen hooked up yet, but I will. Paul's gone and I need help getting it out of the box.

Anyway, we had agreed to get the old computer fixed so I'll have to pay to get it out of the computer hospital. If you know of anyone who would like an old (really old) computer that still works, let us know.

It's good to be back and here again.
MB