Happy Leroy

Hello,

Leroy went to the synod convention yesterday for the first time in a couple years. I thought maybe he would be just tired from all the meetings and activity; instead he was totally energized when he got home after nine last night. This was after being gone since before 8 in the morning. He was so pleased to be a part of it all again, see old friends and acquaintances that he had not had contact with for some time. He was a chatter box too, telling me all about it. I am so glad he has the opportunity to go this year.

He left this morning about 6:30. He walked to church to meet his ride there. I decided to walk with him as it was a good time to get that done. I loosely timed our walk and it was quite close to the fifteen minute mile in spite of pausing to look down a big hole that seemed to have caved in on a side street. Leroy even noticed that under the layers of asphalt there was the old brick street. We also took a little time waiting for a green light allowing us to safely cross a main street.

On the way home I again got close to that fifteen minute mile. I cut through the campus thinking I might see more geese, but there was not a goose in sight. Almost all of the goose poop was gone too. I suspect that that campus did something to discourage these fowl birds and cleaned up after them.

Last night, Leroy thought he would have trouble getting to sleep, but I think his breathing changed before mine did even though this morning he told me that he did not sleep well. He certainly was awake early, at just a few minutes after five. He got right up and was ready ahead of time because he was eating breakfast at the meeting rather than at home. Guess this guy just needs more meetings to go to. It energizes rather than saps him.

Paula

Grumpy

Hello,

The day started off ok. I had a few chores lined up and time to do them. Then Leroy started to deal with the wireless bridge that does not work. He took the laptop, the bridge, and moved the router to the table for easy access prepared to talk to the company. It all worked fine. “Well we must wait until some time when it does not work before we call,” I said, “but I would rather have it in the computer room.”

That move was not successful. Leroy thought maybe the living room would be close enough to the router. So we moved it close to the wall that is next to the kitchen. It worked, but I really wanted it in a different spot. We tried it in the hall, unsuccessful. After that it was moved to another spot in the living room that I could tolerate. That is where it is now working beautifully.

Later I went over the credit card statement only to find that we did not have two of the receipts. I like to have everything in order. I suppose if someone were to have access to our card and stealing the purchase would have been larger than $27.56. Secretly in my heart I blame Leroy because he went shopping with me. Surely he did not take care of this paper, but then he found the piece of paper in the bag with the chair cushions that I might return. Oh no it was me!

Then I decided to get some music using the money Brian gave me. I had thought to get a CD, but saw that I could download a file for MP3s. Leroy thought I should check with Brian to make sure this was compatible with the IPod. It is. Then when I tried to get the music it told me on the website that it was loading it for download, but this was still happening more than 30 minutes later. So we called Brian again to learn what he thought we should do. Through much description, suggestions, and irritation on my part we got it done, but not before Brian had us download a program so he can get into our computer and see what is there as well as control it. He believes that Leroy and I are operating at the edge of our computer ability.

Miriam called while we were on the phone so I called her back. In the course of that conversation I said, “Brian thinks we are old.”

She totally missed her cue and emphatically agreed with him. She also thought we were at the limit of our computer knowledge. Sigh.

Later I took a plant over to our neighbors across the street. Somehow age came up in the conversation with that guy. He thought maybe I am a little younger than he. “I am 66,” I said, “and Leroy is 65.”

He repeated loudly several times, “66! 65!”

“How old do you think I am?” he wanted to know.

“70?” I wondered.

After more guesses he finally told me, “I am 80.”

He thought I was in my 70’s. Such a deal! I certainly cannot brag about my youthful looks.

Leroy and I took a walk later because it seemed I needed to get out of the house. That helped, as I can still walk along at a good clip, although perhaps no longer at the 15 minute mile rate. Do I want to time this?

Paula

Lost

Hello,

Last night Leroy was sighing and moving things around in the spare bedroom where he keeps his things. Finally he announced, “I can’t find my wedding ring.”

He spent more time looking, using a flashlight and looking in impossible place. He even put clothes over his pj’s and looked in the garage in garden gloves because he had worn them in the community garden. No luck on spotting that simple gold band before he went to bed.  This morning it was on his mind first thing, but nothing turned up. About a year ago he lost his Luther ring so he is now ringless. There is still hope for the wedding ring, but the Luther ring is gone for good it now seems.

I lost my computer glasses last winter in January. This spring, I even looked where snow had been piled, but no luck in spotting them. They are larger than a ring consequently I cannot imagine why I did not find them.

Perhaps there is a time of grief when you lose something that you care about. After that one must move on to more important things. Strange how life is full of little sorrows. Perhaps that teaches us how to handle the big ones.

For some reason I was overcome with emotion at my parents’ grave site. My father died in 1987 and my mother in 1998. It seems there are still things I would tell them if they were alive. I have said I want to be cremated. Now I wonder will my children want a spot to return to later or will I be lost totally to them? I have only been to the grave a few times so it is not so important to me to do that.

Paula 

Working in the dirt

Hello,

Leroy and I are exercising our farming skills. I have taken out all but three houseplants. So we have planted the second azalea as well as six poinsettias. Our landlord, after consultation, has moved two ferns. We think the backyard will have a great new look with a good spot of green in a weak corner.

Then we moved on to the rental house a couple doors down that our landlord manages. Are we trying to change the neighborhood? I had talked with him last year about the weeds in front of that house, but talk was all it was. This year I was determined to do something about them, but before I did, he approached me about doing it for pay. So yesterday Leroy and I eradicated weeds. It looks so much better without dead weeds from last year. Soon there will be flowers or other greens planted there to beautify the place. I have some flower seeds which I volunteered to put there and we may look for some plants too. Surely mark downs will start in the near future.

Soon we will plant the amaryllis in the back. I also brought home the fern and the spider plant from the elementary building. They both look good, but the fern is just about perfect. If I were selling I could command a good price. Next week I will start bring home plants from the Ely Library. Personally I believe plants like a summer outside. My boss anticipated this move so she has acquired some other plants to keep green in the space.

One of the plants still in the house is in a lined basket so it would not tolerate the rain. The peace lily is blooming so I do not want to disturb it. The Clivia did well outside, but it is sending up this shoot and I am not sure it should be disturbed.

I found my flower seeds. Some are from 2008. I am hoping that they will grow in that space by the house two doors down. If not then that is ok and I am free from hauling them around with me. If you look there is a positive side to many decisions and  issues.

Paula

Couch and house

Hello,

We had a short relationship with that couch/loveseat. Leroy worked to get the handrail off the back steps only to get hung up on the middle screw on the middle brace. While I was holding the railing I looked at the doorway in front of me. Leroy had gone to fetch additional tool help. The doorway looked small. “Did you measure this door,” I wondered.

Leroy sighed and grabbed his tape measure. It was indeed too small. Our landlords were out so we discussed with them bringing it up the front stairs which are in their apartment. Leroy measured steps and turn after they had cleared them and felt it was possible. Then it was on to the doorway at the top. It seemed that it would work if the door were taken off. In the meantime they had cleared a path in the kitchen so we could get it in that way rather than carting it around to the front. Leroy went to work to take off the door, but it would not budge. Also he then measured the door into the kitchen and found it too narrow. This house is one hundred years old and not built to accommodate such big furniture as we now have.

I now declared, “I do not want this loveseat. We will return it.”

Leroy agreed. The furniture was picked up today and is no longer a part of our vision. Our lives were fine before and they are fine now.

This afternoon when we both got home from work we planted six of the poinsettias. They were the worst looking ones, but they still have quite a lot of red on them. Tomorrow we will decide where to put the last four beauties. They are just astonishing looking.

We also helped the neighbor boy (He seems like a boy, but I suppose he could be in his thirties.) who knows nothing about plants and trees to eliminate some vigorous trees taking root next to his house. We did it partly for selfish reasons because I want to enjoy the clematis and peony that they were hiding and chocking. It looks good now.

Paula

Miracle Day

Hello,

Yesterday was a day of miracles. The first for me was that my z sources at work started working again. Why? I have not the slightest idea. I am now accessing the records of the New York Public library. That is a source I had added at least two months ago. Spontaneously two records appeared when I was doing a search. This is so odd because usually I had to go hunting for the z source response. Because of this gift, I was able to add about three times the videos compared to when I have to copy and paste the record in. Now I do not fee l so old and slow. Hopefully this will work for a good long time. After all I want to look speedy and efficient.

After getting the new internet service at home, the router, phone box, and one phone handset all sat on the refrigerator. Yesterday, Leroy tried setting up the WIFI signal capturer and it worked perfectly without trouble. It needed to be on a different channel and we are now on the proper channel. Consequently the phone box and phone are in the office and the phone in the kitchen is on the microwave. I am happy to be able to see all phones easily. We do not have a huge frig, but it was an effort for me to look at the phone up there.

Yesterday I froze about half of the rhubarb we brought home. This morning I made up a recipe. I put rhubarb in the bottom of the pan and added sort of a cake batter on top. I put in a measured scoop of sugar. I like it just fine. There is a tart taste, but then the dough part sweetens it all up.

Leroy does a leg/hip stretching session on the dining room table. He reclines on the edge of the table with one leg hanging over for three minutes after which time he reverses direction and stretches the other side. This morning I heard a big bang and clattering in the computer room where the dining room table resides. “What happened?” I asked as I hurried to the source of the sound.

“I fell off the table,” Leroy said as he rubbed his head where it had hit an end table. Apparently he was over balanced to the outside. Once the fall started he could not think how to stop it.  He is all right, but was a bit shock up.

Paula

Life is full of surprises

Hello,

On the way home from church we walked through the college campus. School may be winding down, but the geese flock is growing. Leroy took several pictures with his camera, but I did not find them in my email, so who knows where they went. You will just have to imagine this large group of geese. I counted two gathering of adolescent geese: one of 19 and one of 34. It was quite nice to be amid so many thriving bodies even with the poop on the sidewalk. Why don’t they just use the grass?

Later in the day I called a friend, who had offered rhubarb, to learn if there was any available. After telling her we would come later, Leroy thought it a good time to walk over. There we learned that she was collecting furniture for her foster care child who was moving on as well as for refugees. Leroy asked about one of our five rocking chairs. She thought that would be a great addition to her supply that was being picked up tomorrow. She and Leroy took the seats out of her van and we all drove to our house. While there she noticed all our rocking chairs and I mentioned that we had given our couch away before we moved here. She then offered a loveseat that was in her garage. I did not feel we should take it because it was meant for refugees, but she insisted it was for whoever might like it. So we traded a chair for a loveseat.

The rocking chair fit easily in the van, another seat was taken out of the van and the couch put in. It had spent some time in a basement so we left it on the back porch to air out. Leroy vacuumed it this morning, brought up the two cushions which we treated. I do not notice the smell, as I had when I sat on it last night. Our neighbor helped move, push, jam it through the door to the porch.

We would like a little sun so we could air it out more. Our landlord has offered a little wheeled cart so we could move it out into the sun if it ever shines. Leroy is home this afternoon so maybe he could do that even without me. So far it has not rained since we have been up.

Who knew that we would bring home rhubarb and a loveseat?

Paula

Close Call

Hello,

Leroy joined me on my weekly shopping trip in part because he wanted to buy some surge protectors and wanted to have input about that purchase. Before we got to the surge protectors he spent a bit of time looking at tablets. Certainly that will be a future purchase at this house. But not yet as the desktop computer has not succumbed to age after seven years. Seven seems young to me. Because he had to add a wireless card to that computer a couple years ago and son Brian set up the connection, he cannot figure out how to get it to recognize the new source of info.

After some discussion we got the surge protectors and moved on to other shopping tasks such as plants. While getting the plants Leroy also spotted a jacket that he wanted so he got that. I thought it quite a bit of money, but he was unhappy with the cheaper on that he had for several years so hopefully he will be happier now.

As we left the final store I pulled out into a lane of traffic that is not quite in the parking lot, but between lots. As I got to the first intersection I realized that a car sitting at a stop sign there was pulling out in front of me as Leroy yelled. It all seemed in slow motion as I steered the car to the right and almost out of their path. They finally saw me and slammed on their brakes. I continued to curve around and get out of there with my shot of adrenaline cruising through my body willing me to take further action. I took a lot of deep breaths and offered thanks that we did not connect. I have no idea what happened. Did they not see me? Did they think I too had a stop sign?

Before we got home I commented, “That was close.”

To which Leroy replied, “As close as the buffalo.”

You can see that was close enough although we were not scared of the buffalo as we felt safe in the car.

Paula

Leroy At Home

Hello,

Even though Leroy is only working 15 hours a week for May and June,  he still feels busy. He is busy. He is on some committees at church so he has made some trips there. There is also church choir as well as volunteering to lead the neighborhood garden committee. The last big time taker has been getting the internet service set up and running. On Thursday he was quite excited when I came home because we have our own service and the landline phone works as well.

I am pleased too that the internet service is going. The woman did not have to come in the house so there was no fussing about who was paying that bill. Leroy said the hard part was finding the box on the outside of the house. Finally they found it hidden under a downspout. Unfortunately the only live phone jack is in the kitchen so that is where the router and our phone box are situated, even though the suggestion is not to have the router close to water or a microwave, besides it clutters my space. We have a phone jack in the bedroom, but Leroy is unable to move the bed by himself so felt he could not ask her to activate that one as he would not be able to fiddle with whatever needed to be fiddled with.

The router and phone sat on the clothes dryer when I came home. We had some serious discussion about where and how to move it to a more acceptable place. Limiting length cords, both electric and phone line were a big factor in this discussion. Today the equipment sits on top of the refrigerator. That is certainly more out of the way, but I have a bit of a hard time reaching the phone. Hopefully Leroy is going to now spend another large chuck of time trying to get the phone provider to take back the bridge that no longer works and send us a new one enabling us to move the phone back to the office. If it does not happen, we can live with the conditions that we now have. Hopefully the router will be able to last even though it might be closer than ten feet to a microwave. Maybe when using the microwave I should stand between it and the route to block the waves and have them absorbed into my body.

Paula

Such a Day

Hello,

Yesterday, late they turned on the internet connection for us, but we could not get the signal from the two phone jacks. We were not surprised as this house is quite old and we have no idea when anyone last used a phone line here on the second floor. Today, Leroy checked out all the possibilities of wire outside the house, searched out a phone number, and waited until the office was open. The person he spoke with asked many questions, perhaps making sure that all avenues had been tried before ordering a crew to come to the site. She informed Leroy that if the problem were outside the house it would be taken care of, however, if it were in the house it there would be a fee of $85. We had paid a monthly $5 to take care of such an eventuality. According to this person it did not show up on the order that we had paid that amount even though we both thought it had happened. Then Leroy twiddled his thumbs, looked for another phone number, muttered under his breath, sighed, moaned, and phoned the person we had spoken with on Saturday. Unfortunately they did not answer.

By this time Leroy was all bent out of shape and I was thinking we would have been better off if we had never tried to have a home phone and no one would have been the wiser that we had this internet connection.

Leroy worked this afternoon. He then told me that the person had called him back. She was not working today but remembered adding that to our bill, maybe because, on Saturday Leroy had not seen it there and called her after we had gotten home. At that time too she said it was there. All of this fussing over something that is not so important in the whole scheme of life. It is really a question of money and time expended.

Paula

Buying Stamps

Hello,

Yesterday one of my co-workers did the ILL job because I have so much work piled up on my desk. I so miss my favorite “Z” source where I could find the records for movies and simply take them. Now I can find the records, but I must do a cut and paste which is certainly more labor intensive. Going back to the ILL, when that is done it means a trip to the post office. With me, I had brought some postcards for the grandchildren that needed stamps. Now I had no genuine reason to go there.

Later in the afternoon a patron, whose name I cannot name, said she was on her way to the post office. I asked, “Would you buy some stamps and mail my cards if I give you money?”

I gave her ten dollars which should more than cover the card mailing cost along with the purchase of a few extra stamps. Almost twenty minutes later she had not returned. It did cross my mind that she might not come back, not likely, but one never knows. Then I got to thinking about how I do not know her name. I could pick her out of a line up, I think, but I could not name her. That happens with many of the patrons. This woman does not check out often so I do not see her name. She seems quite familiar with me in the way she speaks with me, using my name, course I have on a name tag. Could I have known her in the past? I rack my brain and get no results. So that mystery will remain. She did return with stamps and change.

I will be working tonight. The certified yoga person who does an evening yoga class will be out of town for two weeks. I have been looking at the yoga DVD’s trying to decide which would be the best to lead the class. Then yesterday, my boss commented that the projector is not always working and could I lead the class if necessary. I feel a bit intimidated because I am sure this woman is better than I am, but I said yes in spite of that. Now my stomach is just a bit tight, rumbling, and uneasy. I might lose some more weight which seems to happen when I get anxious. Maybe the anxiety preventing routine is what I should do tonight? Or perhaps the one preventing insomnia? After all I do not want to keep people up.

Paula

Being Honest

Hello,

Being honest seems easy enough until you start living. Our landlords have gifted us with their wireless internet password for the more than two years we have lived here. It did not seem dishonest to me, but a great blessing, even a part of our utility bill.

Then we got the phone in the VoIP mode.  That has also worked fine for almost two years. When our landlords did a recent remodel and moved the router, the phone stopped working. After much problem solving attempts, they let us plug our phone into the router. The difficulties came to light when their tech guy said we could not do that. It is against the law to have two households using one Internet connection. We did not act fast on that, in part because of wondering if it were really a problem and because we were both gone for some of that time. The tech guy came back, pulled the plug on our phone and stated that he did not want to see it there again. So we are without a home phone at the moment. Saturday we signed up for internet service with a different company than the one used in the house.

As a person who “prides” herself on being honest, it is difficult to hear someone say I am not. Then there is the desire to not spend money on something that we could get free. Temptation is very strong. We even discussed forgetting the home phone and continuing to use the internet connection. I would not think of going to a store and taking something out without paying for it. I also would not take something from someone’s home. Just like copyright issues these almost intangible things are more liftable. It would appear that we are not hurting or taking from anyone directly.

Life and morals are indeed complicated. At least starting on Tuesday we will be honest about our phone/internet service. Now are there other areas of my life that are really dishonest and I do not know?

Paula

Mother's Day

Hello,

It is a quiet mother’s day in this household. Leroy and I walked to church at a brisk pace because we had left the house later than usual. That is good for us because even though we walk frequently we do not get enough aerobic exercise. Leroy who is now part time is not riding the bike so often. He was at a class for a week out of town and did little exercise and much eating, consequently he thinks he gained five pounds. My stomach was upset while I was gone and my weight is down enough that Leroy thinks I should drink malt.

When I opened my email I found a gift card from Brian’s family. I went immediately to the “store” and considered what I might get. The first thing that came to mind is a book I have been planning to buy for all three children’s families for our Utah meeting in July. The book was seven dollars off so, of course, I had to buy it immediately. Then Leroy and I discussed what we might buy so we could get free shipping. Leroy suggested that I get a flash drive so I can save my things separately. There is a gift to myself. Money spent and a bit more. I also thought I might splurge sometime when I am out and about or I could assuage my guilt about buying three clothing items when in Utah and two more after I got home. These were things I did not need, but they looked nice and were at great sale prices. So that is all justified now, right?

The clerk here commented that we, Leroy also got three things, would be ready for fall. Don’t tell anyone, but I wore the cardigan sweater to work yesterday, in the spring, and thought it was great. I suppose I should go through my drawers/closet and eliminate some things. Oh, but it is hard to live up to ones standards. I do not want to get rid of anything. I did manage to get everything in so it seems fine to just let things stay.

Paula

New Learning

Hello,

Last time I worked we had a strong thunder/rain storm come through. During the pounding rain the power went out. There was a patron in there working on the computer. He talked about going home, but I convinced him to wait awhile until the rain abated. He did that. I had not heard him talk much in the past, but he chatted right along without much help from me as I did some not electricity requiring chores such as watering plants, applying new stickers covering books, and keeping an eye on my lone patron. I was eating my lunch during this time and finished my apple just about when the rain stopped but the power had not come back on. I do not like to put my apple cores in the wastebasket because of rotting fruit smell so I took it outside to the close to the library. When I pulled on the door to come back in I learned that the exterior door locks when the power is off. My key does not open that outside door. I could have gone around to the back, but instead I called to the guy inside the building. He did not come. After calling futilely I went to the window close to his seat and tapped on the window, talked loudly, and motioned to the door. He then got up and rescued me.

I could have gone around to the back door as my key works there, but it was nice not to walk so far in the fine mist.

It seems there are always more minute points to discover in any place. At least now I knew where the flash lights are stored and that they do work. I was also pleased that the library has such great windows in the main part of the library so I could see without difficulty. I was also glad that it was not a tornado warning even though I do know what to do in that event. It was great too that when the power returned all computers came back up and functioned properly without assistance.

Paula

Speedy Trip Home

Hello,

The light rail train came at 9:01 according to Miriam’s schedule. She had me at the stop by ten of 9:00; however just after she had purchased the ticket she said excitedly, “Here comes the train.” We had to quickly more up the track so I could get in the last door. A guy who wanted to get on with his bicycle held the door so we could engage in a brief hug. At the connection stop I only waited six minutes for the next train rather than Miriam’s schedule suggested 17 minutes. Consequently I was at the airport in plenty of time to settle into that preboarding routine. At security the man looked at my ticket to check which line I should join. With disappointment I moved into the regular take off your shoes line. However, at the first curve in my line, three people of ahead of me were waved into the express lane. I was included in that group. I had double knotted my laces so had untied them ahead of time, but I did not complain about retying them. I zipped right on through security without removing anything but the unfashionable fanny pack.

Arriving at the gate, I decided to stand and do some discreet exercise moves before sitting down. Amazingly they started loading the plane about 20 to 30 minutes early. We were all seated and we even took off 20 minutes early. I have not had that happen in the past. Course it really did not matter to me because I had three hours or more to wait for my flight out of Denver. Too bad I did not get that perk with some tight connection.

My flight out of Denver left early too and I landed about ten minutes early, but it always takes a while to deplane so it was at the scheduled landing time when I called Leroy to pick me up. There were even other people in the cell phone lot in spite of the long line at the airport door. I just stepped between cars and Leroy stopped in the second lane so there was no parking. If it had not been for the long layover I would have been home in a short time.

Paula

Graduation picture.

Just a pictures of smiling people, Miriam, Nora and me.

Paula

In Utah

Hello,

I had quick uneventful flights with little time to spend between flights. I suppose it was as fluid as it could be without being a direct flight. Miriam picked me up at the airport so I did not navigate the train, but I believe on my way out I will put in that effort. Time was added to the trip to de-ice the plane in Denver. It was not much snow on the plane, but… I had noticed the white ground when we landed.

It was fun to pick up the girls after school as they were suitably excited. However just to keep things in perspective we had not been home long before they wanted to go play with friends.

At seven years old, Olivia started taking piano lessons less than two months ago. A recital is planned for next weekend. She will be participating in that. There will be four pieces in which she will play. There will be two other girls who will be joined at the piano by a parent. The teacher will be playing with Olivia. I sat in on their first group practice. It was a little bit tough to have all play together, but I think now it will probably come together. I have been practicing with Olivia. Today she did much better than that last time. Miriam tells me that is because it was in the morning when she does her best. The recital will be at night after her usual bed time. It should be interesting, however I will be home so will not hear.

Miriam’s graduation was a beautiful day, we had good seats, the girls were polite and attentive, and Miriam is now officially that master of social work person.

She is getting a lot of work done around the house and I have been helping. We dead headed the daffodils and tulips, dug a few weeks, cleaned the patio, and swept a good portion of the garage. It is so warm here that I have a time adjusting. Although when I walked the first morning with the girls there was frost on the ground and we could see our breath. It seems to me that Iowa is not the only place that has very changeable weather.

Paula