No Time or Energy To Post

I have been at my Mother's for over a week now and last night was the first time I had the energy to turn on my computer.  I visited as many of you as I could but left no comments.  Tim will be here on Saturday and we will fill up the containers with furniture and boxes to bring back home.  This has been an incredibly emotional time.  Watching my Mom let go of everything she has collected and loved all these years has been painful for me.  Some things are coming home with me because she just needed to know that someone wanted them.  Many of her belongings were her Mother's before her, and her Mother's before her.  Generations and heirlooms.  Her home will never be the same, nor will mine.

The house now belongs to my Sister and her husband, and the next time I come to see my folks it will be as a guest of my Sister.  Construction has already begun on the Master bedroom and bathroom. (It was needed badly).  I will be eternally grateful that they were willing to make this move so that Mom and Dad could stay in this house and be cared for by someone who loves them.  I know they will be in good and loving hands for  the rest of their days on this Earth.  Still, this is hard.  This forces me to accept the reality of their mortality.  I don't want to face that. I need them.  I will always need them.

Blessings,
Red

When The Sun Shines

Finish your outdoor work

and get your fields ready;

after that, build your house.

                        Proverbs 24:27

We have been outside, soaking up the vitamin D, using those forgotten muscles that are needed for pulling weeds, and getting the greenhouse ready for seeds. Tonight we got another estimate on clearing the back of our property. Someday soon we'll have a lot more sunshine for a bigger garden, a nice fenced pasture for a couple of cows, and a barn full of hay.  It sounds like I'm dreaming, and I am - but it is getting really close to coming true.  :)

Have a great week!

Blessings,

Red

Church With My Dad

My Dad is a man of faith. Real faith. Deep faith.  An amazing man. Truly amazing.
Years ago he had to have a hip replaced and ended up with a blood clot in his lung. The clot was dissolved and the new hip was marvelous, but life changed after that. Soon the knees became bone on bone, but the doctors would not operate because of the history of blot clots.  Still my Dad refused to give in to a wheelchair. He lives in a great deal of pain and yet praises God joyfully.

One of his biggest regrets is not being able to attend church very often anymore.  He has a small travel chair that works similar to a real wheelchair, but it is not easy for my Mom to maneuver.  So yesterday my sister and I loaded him in the car and off  to church we went.

We got there between services and that gave Dad an opportunity to visit with many friends he hasn't seen in quite awhile.  One of those friends helped us get him situated in the sanctuary just in time for the beginning of the service.  He was beaming.  It was so obvious that he was thrilled to be there.

The sermon was excellent and the congregation was invited to come forward to take communion.  We waited until most of the people were through the lines and then my sister wheeled my Dad down the aisle to the table holding the silver trays.  The table was too high for him to reach and so I was able to serve my Dad communion.  It was incredibly emotional.  My sister and I were streaming tears as she pushed his chair back up the aisle to return to our seats.

The rest of the service was powerful and uplifting, and by the time it was over we all knew it was a day we would never forget.  What a gift to all of us. God is so good.

Blessings,
Red

Missing The Gun Rally

I flew down to Southern California yesterday to spend a week with my folks.  The flight was uneventful, as was the security at the airport.  The weather is chilly but SUNNY with beautiful blue skies.  Maybe I'll stay until summer :)

Seriously, I will probably not be blogging much this week, although I will try.

I received an email this morning from Oregon Firearms Federation, passing on the schedule for a Pro-Gun rally at the state capital.  If you live in the Pacific Northwest and can attend, it will be on the 19th of January in Salem.  I understand people are coming from far and wide, and also that this will be taking place all over the country.  Salem, Oregon is an OPEN CARRY, (unloaded) city.  So if you go, please carry your gun. If you don't own a gun please go anyway to support your right to own one.

I will be flying over Salem about that time, on my way home.  Bummer.  I would have liked to attend.  My husband can't attend either because he has to pick me up at the airport.  Double bummer :( :(

Mom's up - gotta go!

Blessings,
Red

Idaho, California, NRA and TSA

We’ve been busy!  We discovered a business for sale in a small Northern Idaho town – be still my heart – and knew we had to investigate.  So we took a Thursday and Friday off work, flew to Spokane, WA and rented a car.  We stayed in the closest town with a hotel – Post Falls, Idaho.  To us that was a pretty big town.  We met with the owners of the business, spent four hours driving around  with a Realtor, and pretty much ate at every restaurant in town. We wanted so badly for things to work out, but in the end (which wasn’t until several weeks later) we realized we could not make it work for us.

(This is not the business, but I fell in love with those snowy hills.  The locals told us they are full of Moose.)

A different kind of “local” greeted us on this dead end road.

And of course no trip to Post Falls  is complete without a shopping spree at Cabela’s!

Flying out of Spokane was a challenge for me.  The Spokane airport has Backscatter machines, also known as Naked Body Scanners.  Shortly before it was my turn I saw the little sign that explained what the machine was and my stomach knotted up instantly.  I knew I was not going through that machine no matter what.  I also had a great fear of the alternative.  I read so many horror stories about the new “groping TSA”.  When it was my turn the man motioned me towards the machine and I looked him in the eye and said “I refuse to go through there”.  I was pleasant about it, but he knew I was serious.  He got a bit flustered for a moment, (maybe nobody else ever did that to him), and then he pulled out a business card and said “I have to read this to you, Ma’am”.  It was a script saying that if I refused to be scanned I would have to submit to a “pat down” by a TSA agent.  I told him I understood and accepted that (as long as the agent was a female!).  They motioned me around the machine and a friendly woman approached me.  She asked if I wanted a more private screening and I declined.  Now here is the amazing part.  It was nothing!  She explained every single thing she needed to do before she did it, she ALWAYS used the back of her hand, and in no way did she grope or make me feel violated.  I have been singled out for pat downs many times in the past, and this was not much different.  She did check my clothing for explosives by wearing gloves and then wiping a pad on the gloves when she was finished.  Then she put the pad in a machine which scanned for explosives. Maybe it was just my lucky day, I don’t know, but I was greatly relieved that it was no more than that.

When we got back home I started my NRA Ladies Basic Pistol Class.  The first class was so much fun I couldn’t wait for the next one.  There is a lot to say about this experience so I will leave it for a post of its own.   I missed the 3rd class because we flew down to California to see my folks for a week.  The weather was beautiful, but too warm for me.  My body is in “cold weather mode” right now and the blood is thick! The warm weather was quite uncomfortable and I don’t think it ever even got to 70 degrees!  I love my folks, I’m glad we went, but boy was I happy to get home and sleep in my own bed with just my nose poking out because it was so cold!

I have not been around to visit for awhile but I’ll try to get caught up on everything that’s going on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Red