Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

 I've been having a heck of a time with internet connection here so hopefully I can get this to post.  I have been reading as many blogs as I can but not always commenting as it take so long to upload anything.  So if you don't see my note, that doesn't mean I haven't stopped by.  Sometimes it's a dropped connection that makes my comments not post but at any rate, hope you all know how much I appreciate reading about your adventures even if I can't always get a comment to post.  Take care.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the wonderful foods and friends and family that you can handle!

This is a weird holiday for us this year.  First one in many, many years that we have not been with family.  We just thought we would try something different and see how it works.  I am so thankful that most of my family is in Oregon and we can see them all often. 

I made enchiladas, beans, and rice for our Thanksgiving feast and we had it Wednesday evening.  If we feel like it, on Thanksgiving Day we are going to take off and go see some of the sights around the area.  Might even go as far as Borrego Springs.  We figure most folks will be hunkered down over a turkey so we will have the roads all to ourselves (yeah, right!).  So we’ll see what happens.

Today we went to visit some old friends of ours…old in the sense that we have known them for a long time, not that they are as old as we are!  Gary and Charlotte are Senior Pastors at Christian Center here in Desert  Hot Springs.  We got to see them last summer when they came through Oregon so we wanted to touch bases while we are here.  Had a wonderful visit in their beautiful home and then they were on their was to spend Thanksgiving with their kids in Fresno.




Russ got a nice picture of the sky this morning with the jet trails adding their streaks to the wispy clouds overhead.


Well, it’s Thanksgiving and while I enjoy the holiday and the sentiment, I wish that we could remember everyday what we have to be thankful for.  It’s easy to become discourage and even bitter about the economy, politics, family issues, poverty, occupiers…you name it, we can find a negative to worry about.  But what is more important is to search for that little nugget of positivity that can be found in almost every situation. 

I consider myself blessed, not only because I live and travel in a place that I love, but because of the blessings that we may forget to acknowledge on a day to day basis.  I am thankful for my kids and their spouses and my grandkids.  I am thankful for my wonderful siblings and their extended families.  I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband, and that he has family that I love as my own.  I am thankful for friends.

I am thankful for love and acceptance, both to give and to receive, without judgment.  I am thankful that I still have the faith of a child and can believe in what I cannot see with my eyes.  Yes, I believe in God and my faith sustains me when all else fails.  For that I am thankful.  May I never outgrow the simplicity of belief. 

Happy Thanksgiving All and may we be truly thankful, not just today, but every day.  God Bless.

Clarification and the End of Summer

In re-reading my post of last night and the comments that followed, I just wanted to make sure I was not leading anyone astray!  First, thank you all so much for your supportive comments.  The encouragement is much appreciated.  I have a feeling the next few months/years may be a challenging time for us.

Yes, we definitely want to sell the house but we are NOT at this time planning on becoming full-timers (although nothing is outside the realm of possibility!).  We just really need to downsize and get something we can manage from our physical and financial resources.  I still feel the need of someplace I can go home to, but who knows what a year may bring.  We have learned to never say never!!

And now on to the end of summer.  It feels like summer is ending all too quickly this year…perhaps because it just got started??  We had the Portland girls, Anna and Bekah, for their last visit of the season last week.  They were only here for three days and we took them home on Wednesday.  Now we are busy getting the motor home waxed and stocked and ready to roll this Saturday for a 1 week camping trip.  Really looking forward to that.  After that we are home for about 10 days and then off on our long September trip.

So here’s what our last few days were like.  We tried to pack in as many memories as we could knowing that this may have to last a while.  We went miniature golfing on Sunday.





It’s a great miniature Golf Course – our favorite river-side pizza parlor is at the back of the lot, but the neighborhood is not the greatest.  This is what is across the street from the golf course.  Glad it was closed on Sunday!!  Click to enlarge.


And a couple of doors down from that wonderful shop is the building where Russ worked many years ago.  This used to be the headquarters for a local petroleum company, before the Big Guys put all the Little Guys out of business.  Russ was the controller for Sunny Service Stations for about 7 years and he is still friends with the former owner of the business.  It was a great local company for many years and probably Russ’s favorite job ever.  The neighborhood was nicer then too!!



After golfing we had pizza at Roaring Rapids but I have posted photos of that before so didn’t take any new ones.

Monday we went to a movie and then roamed the mall for a bit.



The girls wanted to try out the massage chairs in the middle of the mall.



It was fine until Grandpa decided he wanted to join them.



Tuesday we had a final girl’s swim – probably the last one of the summer.



Several years ago, when my first two grandsons were small, I bought a 3/4 size guitar.  I always wanted to encourage the kids in the pursuit of music and Mike showed great promise in stringed instruments.  However, he never really took to the guitar so I got it back.  Over the years it has gone from one grandchild to another and no one ever liked it enough to do much with it.  I was ready to sell it on Craig's List when Cailin decided she would like to give it another try.  This has been quite a few months ago and I haven’t seen any evidence of her continuing interest in the guitar.  HOWEVER, just when I was about to give up hope, Cailin’s Uncle Barry (on her mother’s side) came from Texas for a visit last weekend.  Seems Uncle Barry is quite gifted on the guitar and after a long weekend, had taught Cailin a few things.  She brought her guitar over on Tuesday to show me what she had learned in a few short days.  I was so impressed and SO HAPPY that someone was finally getting some use out of the guitar.  So take a look at a proud Grandma’s video of Cailin showing me what she has learned.  She is already quite good on the piano and I think she has a lot of promise on her second instrument as well.  Remember, last week at this time she couldn't play anything on the guitar!



And another talented youngster…I swear there are no special effects here other than the sound effects I added!!  I know, it's just too precious for words ...


So although it’s been short, it has been a great summer.  I don’t know what next summer will bring, but whatever it is, I’ll be ready…and you can be sure it will involve family.

Revelations

It has been an interesting week.  No, I’m not having dreams and visions, but, in the midst of enjoying friends and family, a few things have become clear to me.

Every summer for as long as I can remember, we have had some kind of family gathering in our backyard.  We have always kept the yard nice and had beautiful flowers for the enjoyment of ourselves and our company.


We have watered the grass and made sure it was suitable for backyard activities.



And every year we have at least one big shebang and invite all the family, extended family, in-laws, outlaws, and friends.






 July 2010






We set up tents and canopies, cook LOTS of food, let the grandkids perform, haul out all the extra chairs and tables and just open the yard and pool to all comers.

  

The yard and the pool and the family gatherings (and the memories of those times) are a big part of what has tied to me to this place.  I felt I could never give it up because it would be like losing the family ties.  Yet each year we would get more and more worn out, and we eventually had to confess (at least to each other) that we just couldn’t do it anymore.

When we were both still working, we could afford all the extra food, the huge water bill, the required lawn and garden maintenance, the pool maintenance, and we enjoyed it so much.  There is nothing like having family and friends gather together and enjoy what we willingly shared with them.  It’s great to hear someone say, “oh, your flowers are so beautiful”, or “this food is so delicious.”  It’s wonderful to see the kids splashing in the pool or singing their little hearts out for their parents and aunties and uncles.

But we are tired and with just a little less disposable income than we are accustomed to LOL!  So this year we did things differently.  I asked my son, John,  to take over the organizing of the family get together.  I said we would supply the yard and the pool and open the backyard to anyone who wanted to come.  However, we would not be setting up tents and canopies, nor dragging out chairs and tables (although anyone who wanted to use those things was welcome to drag them out) , nor providing a huge selection of food.  In fact, we called it a backyard picnic and asked everyone to bring a sack lunch and their own drinks.  My sisters and I have been doing this all summer for our sisters’ lunches and it has worked great.

John has been after me for years to quit working so hard at our summer gatherings so I finally said okay.  And so our gathering was a bit smaller this year.  But we had just as good a time and perhaps a better time.  I was not running around trying to serve everyone and making sure there were enough plates, napkins, drinks, food, etc.  I did not spend the week before shopping, cleaning, and cooking.  I didn’t make costumes or direct a cousins show.  They are old enough to do that on their own if they are interested.  And you know what, nobody seemed to mind.  Those that wanted to visit showed up and those that didn’t, well, they didn’t!!

I also realized that everything we did in my back yard could just as easily have been done at one of the local parks.  We might have to share the grounds and the pool but so what?  We could still sit and visit and eat and fellowship together.

The point of all this is that I have seen that this old house and yard and pool are NOT what matters.  When we sell this place, the family is not going to disappear.  We do NOT need to stay tied to this big house and huge yard and all the expense of maintaining all that and a pool besides, just so the family can have a place to gather.  As long as we are family, we will have our memories and we will have our love.  And we can do that anywhere…and from now on we will.  I am turning the organizing of family gatherings over to the next generation and I am retiring.

I think I am finally ready to let go.  It will no doubt be difficult as we have lived here for over 35 years and raised our kids here.  This is the only home the grand-kids have every seen us in.  There are a lifetime of memories in this old house.  But the fact is that life changes and we can either wait until we are too old to make those decisions or we can take charge of our future and make changes while we are still able to do so. 

I don’t know the timing of our transition.  I look at all the “stuff” we have collected over the years and wonder how am I ever going to sort through it all.  I cannot even begin to contemplate what we will do with all the junk in the garage/barn.  The attics are stuffed as is every room in the house.  We have started with the office and have thrown or given away much of the clutter that was in there.  It will take time but we are headed in that direction.
 
I should just settle down like Kate and Jeana and Merikay and Jessica and Harry and just get this done before we go off on any more trips, but we aren’t quite that dedicated yet.  We will still take some trips this fall and winter but when we are home it’s going to be for the purpose of working towards getting the house ready to sell.  Where will we go?  I have no idea at this point.  I only know our future is getting shorter every year and if we are going to make things easier on ourselves, and eventually on our children, it is time to make some changes.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

The last of the company has just left and all is quiet on the western front.  For the last week we had two grandgirls staying with us.  Plus for three of those days, we had a grandson coming over everyday to visit.  On Thursday, our daughter arrived for the weekend, along with her dog, Lucy.  Today we had 10 people for a backyard lunch of barbeque pulled pork, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, macaroni salad, and fresh Oregon strawberries.  It was all good and no one went away hungry.

But we are TIRED!  Wish I had as much energy as I had even 10 years ago.  I wouldn’t give up the family times for anything but just can’t keep up like I used to.  I often think my “can do” just doesn’t keep pace with my “want to”.  I was even too tired to remember to take some pictures of the group.  Oh well, I know what they look like.

My daughter’s dog was just recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia.  The dog is a German Shepard mix and is only 14 months old.  Merry was training her to be her service dog.  The vet said it is mild and perhaps with proper treatment, will not get much worse.  Friday Lucy romped in the yard quite a bit and then took a nap in the living room.   When she woke up, she couldn’t get up.  She yelped every time she moved.  We put hot and cold packs on her hips and gave her an extra Rimidyl and finally she was able to move.  It’s really too bad as she is a wonderful loving dog and smart as a whip.  time will tell how this turns out.

Lucy hunting for toys under Rusty's "Toy Tree"
Ever since he was a pup, Rusty has stashed his
toys under this cedar tree. 

Rusty and Lucy enjoying the grass

Even with all the company we managed to get Therapy loaded and the Wee Fit hooked up and we are ready to roll first thing in the morning.  We’ll travel towards the McKenzie Pass and stop at Takoda’s for breakfast.  Anytime we head that way we always like to stop at Takoda’s for a meal.

Just a couple of photos from my (vastly underplanted) yard.  I have stuck with my bargain and have neither purchased nor planted a single flower this season.



Consider the Lilies of the field...



I forget what this is called.  We planted
three of them last year and they are all
thriving.  I sure like the blossoms.

 Since I am “flower deprived” this year. I could not bear to pull up these little volunteers from the pool deck.  No power washing allowed here!!

















Gotta get to bed so we can get an early start.  Hopefully I’ll have some good things to write about from Sisters.  When we get back we get to meet Doug and Sue so we are really looking forward to that.  By the way, Al of the Bayfield Bunch has a great mystery story going on over at his blog…all about a lamp.  He promised the second installment tonight so pop on over and have a look.