In Memorium

The board I belong to lost one of its favorite members last week. We knew him as Buddy Roe. He had fought a hard fight against cancer, but the nasty disease finally got the best of him.

He was a good guy, one of those who always had something nice to say to everyone. He was someone the world could use more of. He would  joke about his illness, possibly to keep the rest of us from worrying too much about him, but we still worried, we couldn't help but worry. We knew he was ill and we knew what cancer could do, some of us had seen its destruction before or experienced it ourselves.

One of Buddy's greatest pleasures was going to his house in the country. You could just feel the contentment he felt there just by the words he wrote. He loved the country and the country loved him. It let him forget, even for a little while, about his illness. It let him feel alive again, as if he wasn't ill.

We are not the only ones who will miss Buddy, he had a partner and family who loved him very much and will miss him even more because they had the privilege of knowing him in real life, not as a name on a message board.

May you rest in peace Buddy in the knowledge that you were loved and admired by many, many of which only knew you by the words you wrote on a message board.

Well, I finally did it!

I finally did something that I had been wanting to do for years, corrected something that I have been ashamed of for too long, I got dentures. I feel like a whole new person.

I only got the top done for now and will get the bottom done in January. I already know that I need a partial there. I'm looking forward to getting the whole process completed, but for now it feels good just having the top done. I've even been practicing smiling, something I've been embarrassed to do for quite awhile.

My teeth had been a mess for quite sometime and I've had a real phobia of dentists, but I finally convinced myself that I needed to do something. If I go back east next June for my niece's wedding, I want to go with a full set of teeth, not the mess that was there before. It'll feel good to finally be able to do that.

What a beautiful ending to what was a beautiful day. Fall is in the air, the corn crops are close to harvest and the soy crops aren't far behind. Not only that, my Steelers won today. :)

September 11, 2001

Let us not forget those who lost their lives nine years ago today. Please say a prayer for those who lost someone that day.

Three Strikes

Today was not a good day, to say the least. I had another appointment this morning, which did not go as well as I had hoped, but more on that in a little bit.

Let me say first that day started out fine, except I didn't hear the alarm go off, but I woke up a few minutes later anyway, so no time was lost. I had Dave put gas in the van yesterday so that I wouldn't have to stop for gas today. It was a good thing too because they started construction on the 35 going north to the next county's border, so you guessed it, one lane of traffic for about 12 miles. Luckily traffic wasn't too bad, that was until I hit the outskirts of Des Moines. Another one lane of traffic and this time it was heavy. I didn't think I would make my appointment on time, but I did, barely.

Like I said before, the appointment didn't go well. I had assumed some things which it turned out, were not correct. I also was told that I might have to wait a little longer than I was previously told for an item that I ordered. It is supposed to be here next Wednesday and I'm still praying that it makes it by then.

After the disappointment of the appointment, I decided to do some shopping and drove to PetCo because I was going to buy one of those inflatable collars for Angel to keep her from messing with the bandage on her leg from her surgery on Tuesday, but remembered that I hadn't measured her neck. As it turned out, she didn't need it anyway. I looked around some more and decided to head to PetSmart to see what they had and while there bought Rolli and Max new collars; I didn't find any that I liked for Jake and Angel. I also wanted to run next door to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I did find something there that I needed and I also bought the pups a new toy, which unfortunately it looks like they don't like. After that, I headed home, but not before I stopped at Wal*Mart to pick up a couple things. I also got some money for David's lunches this weekend.

When I left the store, I had the money in my hand, wrapped in the receipt. When I got home, I had neither. I even called the store hoping that someone turned it in, but unfortunately no one had. I don't know what happened to it, I could have dropped it in the parking lot when I was opening the back door on the van, or it could be in the van somewhere and David and I hadn't found it when we searched. Luckily I had a $20 bill in my purse left over from the fair, so I gave him that. I will check back with the store tomorrow to see if by some miracle, someone turned it in, otherwise someone is $40.00 richer. I just hope if that's the case, that it was someone who really needed it.

Thank goodness tomorrow's Friday.

Another Week almost Gone

Boy, the weeks have really been flying by. It's Wednesday already and it feels like we haven't had Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday yet. We have been busy though.

This past weekend was of course, Labor Day weekend. Dave and I spent it putting the new windows in over at my desk and here in the living room. What a difference they make. I was so glad we found the ones for here in the living room. It feels so good to be rid of the ugly things that were in here before, plus the new ones are double hung, meaning both the top and bottom open, much easier when it comes to putting the air conditioner in; the old ones were sliders. The new ones should make a big difference this winter. The other ones leaked like sieves.
 
Yesterday was extra busy, for me anyway. I had to get up early to make sure to get Angel to the vet by 8:00 because she was having surgery on her front leg to remove a fatty tumor. Needless to say, she's not too happy with me today. I was, after all, the one who left her there.

Yesterday, I also had two more appointments up in Des Moines.   I also got the time for one of them wrong. Thinking it was an hour earlier than it actually was, I went straight from the vet's and drove up to Des Moines to make sure I made it on time. I left here at 7:15 and didn't get back until almost 3:00. I also hadn't eaten all day, but I was at least able to pick up the chargers at Hobby Lobby that I saw last week and liked. Today will be spent doing laundry, running to Wal*Mart to get some more stuff to keep Angel's leg wrapped for the next two weeks; that in itself is going to be a chore, keeping her from tearing it off without putting one of those collars on her that make her look like a canine satellite dish. Tomorrow is yet another trip up to Des Moines for yet another appointment. At least I know the correct time for this one.

The coming weekend should be fairly quiet except Saturday is the bi-annual Antique Jamboree, we missed the first one, but then another busy week next week. I'm exhausted already just thinking about it.

Beautiful Ending to a Great Day

Had a great day today. Dave and I went up to Des Moines this afternoon because I had a 3:00 appointment and before that we wanted to go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore because we wanted to see what they had new before the weekend came and it was all gone.

I was hoping to find an old door that I liked to use as a headboard, but unfortunately the kind I wanted, they had one and it was not in the best of shape. More importantly, however, we found windows to fit the living room, without losing any width and only six inches in length, not a big deal. And best of all, they were less than $50 each! These are 46 inch wide windows, a size we never thought we would find, especially at the ReStore.

After we were finished there, we headed over to where my appointment was. We were early, so we checked out the Hobby Lobby close by. Not only do they have their Halloween stuff out, but also their Christmas. I felt like it was December instead of September.

We ended up getting to my appointment early, which was actually good because they were able to get me in early. All in all, that took a little over an hour, no big deal.

Now for what was the highlight of the day, while driving home and after it quit raining, luckily it didn't rain all day, we saw a rainbow. A nice way to top off what was a great day.

Not a mourning of a Loss, but a Celebration of a Life

Four years ago today, Dave's dad passed away. He was 72 years old. Like Dave, he was a Navy vet. During his time in the Navy, he fought in the Korean War.

Dave and his dad were very close, they were also very much alike. Even now, I see things in Dave that remind me of his dad.

Dave's dad was a good man and a great father-in-law. I remember after Dave and I got married and he was out to sea, our car broke down and I was able to call Ken, his dad's name, to come and help me.

Dave told me of another time when the car we had just bought had a tire blow and Ken went with Dave to the dealership to tell them. I was pregnant with Kenneth at the time and Dave told the dealer that I was the one who usually drove that car and that the tire could have very easily blown on the freeway and I could have been killed, along with the baby. When the dealer refused to fix the tire, Ken stood up and said, "You know, you're an asshole." Ken was tall like Dave, over six foot. At that, the dealer agreed to replace the tire. Maybe he replaced all four, I can't remember, but that story always brings a smile to my face.

He was thrilled that we decided to name Kenneth after him. I'm glad that we did. Kenneth is named for both grandfathers, he has my dad's name as his middle name.

He was so proud of Kenneth when he received his Bachelor degree and of David and me when we received our Associate degrees. I wish he were able to see all three of us graduate, but he was there in spirit. He loved his grandsons and me. I was proud to be his daughter-in-law.

So today, instead of mourning our loss, we are going to celebrate the man that Ken was. We miss you Dad.