After a 5 year relationship, I left the Juke at Fentons Nissan in Lee’s Summit.  For many reasons that I wont go into now, I just needed a little bigger vehicle.

I chose a Nissan Rogue Crossover…and this is the first time in my adult life that I’ve bought a used car for myself.  My habit of buying new cars every 3 to 4 years may be leveling out.  I love cars and I’m impulsive.

No buyers remorse…I used a lot of brain cells agonizing and over thinking the decision last night…I wonder if I’m growing up and becoming responsible?  NAh!

Until next time….

Many years ago when we were young and still trying to not pass gas in front of each other, I tried to figure out a way to let him know that every night I want to murder him in his sleep.  Lo and behold I was shocked to learn that I snored also because I swear I didn’t sleep.  I decided to try earplugs before we made the decision to sleep in separate bedrooms because I knew he would pull rank and get the waterbed.

The earplugs and spares have become as important to us as it used to be having an extra pack of cigarettes hidden away for an emergency.  We stock up on them….we are very particular about which ones we like…and, of course….we don’t like the same brands!  *eye roll…we don’t agree on cars, music, tv show or ear plugs.

We frequently insert earplugs when we get into bed…one of us may be listening to some dude in Vermont using an electric saw or “insert tool” at highest iPad volume while the other is trying to read….you get the point.  I got that internal giggle tonight with both of us ear-plug-deaf trying to communicate with each other by yelling.  We’ve spent way too many nights yelling GOODNIGHT (what) GOODNIGHT (oh, goodnight) I LOVE YOU (what)*irritatedly pulling one ear plug out.  I LOVE YOU (oh, I love you too) …. When he stuffs the ear plug back in I’m so tempted to yell something else.  

Until next time…..

Seems as though I go through long periods of intentionally escaping my mental flapping by using Netflix or Amazon Prime.  I still smile when I think of the relationship I had about a year ago with Kate Winslet….night after night I watched nearly every movie she had been in. I still don’t know what that was all about.  I find myself adding show after show to my watch lists because both providers give you hints of shows or movies you might like mwhen they determine that you may be an addict.  Sometimes this behavour coincides with a reading binge.  I must say that sometimes my reading binges stop abruptly when I finish a book that I really enjoy….one of those books that get into your head….you can’t imagine how you can possibly go on and be normal without the characters.

Electronics….my IPAD and my blue tooth head phones have made these little escape journeys very satisfying for me.  I can be sitting at one end of the couch in my little world and he can be at the other end watching the TV and we are both watching what we want to watch… We are still physically together but it takes the irritations of TV watching away for me because we seldom want to watch the same thing.  That’s it…

Until next time….

I was in the backyard when it started and by the time I got to the front of the house

The sun was out….but a tease of some very large drops!

I’ve been in a slump the last few days….not really a mental slump because I’m doing what I want to do but a physical slump…I marked 1,115 steps on my Fitbit yesterday…I don’t feel good about it; yet, I’m torn because I’m enjoying my time on the Davenport either reading or with my headphones on watching something British from Netflix or Amazon Prime.  Which brings me to the book Fathermothergod ….. A non fiction book written by Lucia Greenhouse about her growing up in the Church of Christ,Scientist religion, her rebellion and the impact of the religion for her siblings and the household.  I couldn’t put it down.  

I’m not a romance novel reader (not that there is anything wrong with them…I know the high faluten self described intellectuals look down on romance novel readers) pfft.  I like unpredictable and different…for the most part, I really dislike Hollywood movies  and consider my self a high faluten movie intellectual because of it. *raising nose upward.  I also abhor violence.  I don’t want to watch raw sex on TV but give me sex before violence any day!

After nearly 2 1/2 years of retirement, I still have feelings of guilt letting myself just do what I want to do.  It is harder than I thought to go from a 90mph life to barely registering on the speedometer.  That’s what I’m working on now…giving myself permission to do what I want to do without my inner voice criticizing my actions….it’s a different way of thinking.  I wish I had slowed down years ago so the abrupt change wouldn’t feel so wrong!

It’s clouding over and getting dark again….let it rain!!!

Until next time…..

Well, rolling blackouts hit Hidden Valley and a couple other streets in the subdivision.  My first thought on this very hot day was he better have gas in the generator.  My second thought was thank goodness my electric recliner is in the down position or that could be embarrassing and ugly…my third thought was…it’s so quiet in here without TV…wait…ITS NOT QUIET!  I may not have mentioned before but he collects antique clocks….ticking and top of the hour chiming clocks…

From my current location in the living room, I can see.

4 of them.  The only one that doesn’t tick is the grandfather clock….what’s more?….they DONT CLICK IN Rhythm!  I had him shut off the grandfather clock chimes a few months ago because 1 minute before the hour through 1 minute after the hour say at 10, 11 and 12 we had to mute the TV because I could t hear anything.  As I sit here in the quiet, oh wait….it’s not quiet …. Tick tick tick tick.  He thinks it’s comforting.

If the power doesn’t come on soon so I can blare the TV, I may have to resort to ear plugs so I can concentrate while I Read my book.
Until next time…

The kids spent the day with us yesterday….along with Kate’s inlaws.  It always blesses my heart when I can witness my girls being loved by their spouses parents!!  

Being a gadget and electronic junkie, Adam seems to feed and encourage this by introducing me to them….like my Apple Watch that I cannot live without.  And the electronic bug zapper tennis racket!!!  Who knew?!?!

When the sun went down last night, and the outside camper lights came on our prey was plentiful.

The sound and the sparkles of hunting mosquitos was very satisfying not to mention the upper body workout.  Even while He was putting out the fire in the microwave while trying to warm up his hot dog (and I’m not kidding), we were zapping the mosquitos and other pests which snuck in the door so we had no buzzing and bites overnight while we slept.

Amazon or Walmart for $5…2 double A batteries and your life will be changed forever!!!

Until next time.

It was hot and muggy.  We spent the entire day inside with air conditioning.  I apologize to all of the campers in the 80s and 90s who I silently berated.  The ones in the sleek motor homes and 5th wheels who stayed inside from the heat all day and who had the look of fear when we pulled in beside them with our Clampett trailer.  *severe eye roll.  It is so much fun to sit in the heat with the sweat dripping, yelling at the kids wishing they would just sit down and relax.

Old friends, Tom and Rhonda Stoller, came down from Collins.  I’m without words to describe how good it was to see them. We had many adventures together…burning standing trees, trips to the ER, Okoboji grill just to name a few of our twice a week adventures.  Then came Suzy and her friend, our new friend, Dana.  We meshed like we had all known each other for years….especially with a little of Rhonda’s moonshine on board.

Kept him up 3 hours past his bedtime…but we could have laughed and talked all night!

Kate and Adam are on their way for today’s adventures….and it is starting out even hotter.

Until next time.

Even Frannie is in the fetal position.

We decided to leave home later for our trip to Red Rock Lake in Central Iowa.  2 instead of noon so we wouldn’t have to set up camp in the baking sun at 95 degrees.  

We left at 2.  Made it to the end of the street and turned too close to the stop sign…brushed against it but it took out the largest window in the 5th wheel.  Back around the block.  I started cleaning out glass using a screw driver to,get it out of the window canals while he drove into Lee’s Summit to get plexiglass.  It was hot and we were covered in glass dust, bleeding several places on our arms and hands but my husband can do anything.  He got the plexiglass window in while I vacuumed glass with the shop vac from the inside, the street and the grass.   We left home at 6:09.   Stopped at Bethany, MO for something to eat a little after 8 and found that the running lights on the camper would not work so drove with 4 way flashers on.  Pulled into the pitch black campground around 11….took an hour to back into the site using the light from my cell phone…him driving and me doing a less than stellar job of navigating him in.  We made it and we are all still alive.

Pulled out the vacuum to get the last pieces of glass cleaned up but first decided to walk to the shower house bathroom…tripped over the fire pit…actually landed on top of it then rolled over…damnit….still alive.  Turned on the water pump for,the camper…noticed the fresh water was down 1/4 already…WHAT…valve open on the water heater and water pouring out of it faster than it could fill.

It’s now the next day.

Until next time….

He is in bed as he always is by 10:30 so he can be up first light.  I’m wide awake sitting on the deck because night time is my time to enjoy.  After I took Frannie for a walk, I decided to spend some time on the deck. there’s a cool breeze, no bugs and my twilight lights.

I tried to commit to 2 minutes of meditation but my mind was having nothing of it….my breathing in and out was apparently not as interesting as the thoughts clanging.

One of the things I was trying to not think about was how many humans and critters in this house have a full set of teeth.  A month ago, I went in for bridge repair and my tooth crumbled when the bridge was removed.  Last week he went in for dental surgery and had some bone scraped and built up with cadaver bone…that’s what he says anyway…everything I’ve read said they use cow bone. Today we took Baxter in for a tooth cleaning and he had 5 teeth removed. So the count is 2.  1 dog, and 1 cat out of 1 dog, 4 cats and two humans.  If I didn’t live and love Missouri, I would pretend I was still an Iowan and insert Missouri joke.

Now I’ve made room for some dead space in my brain…perhaps I can sit back and relax, breath in and out for 2 minutes to calm my brain down.

Until next time….

I have always…well, since the 70s….believed that the illegal status of marijuana was wrong and likened it to alcohol prohibition….and I don’t think I am wrong!  In my 30 years in the law enforcement community, I seldom bit my tongue about my views…..and in my 30 years I was never subjected to a drug test because I hope my character and being a rules follower protected my reputation…..and I knew what was at stake if I were ever to break that rule and test positive.  With that being said….

I was putting on my Show Me Cannabis t shirt this morning thinking about the lessons taught in the schools thru DARE and just-say-no programs.  I’m not an expert on how these classes are taught, And I think the jury is out about whether these programs work.  But what about the kids in these classes who have parents who knowingly use pot (for whatever reason).  What does this do to the psych of these kids.  Does it make them  fearful that mom or dad will be arrested?  Does it mess with them and cause them to not trust their parents…putting a large brick in the relationship?  Does it make them see cops as bad?  Or does it do anything at all to their little minds?  AND when marijuana is legal in all 50 states and the DOC, what will we tell the kids then?  OH…we were wrong, it’s not so bad but just like liquor, don’t do it until you are of age?

Just thoughts.  As you, who didn’t know, I believe marijuana should be legalized for recreational use.  I think that cops finding seeds in an ashtray should not be probable cause for putting people in jail and I’m very pissed off that someone who is arrested on marijuana possession frequently spends as much time in jail as rapists and murderers.

There.  That’s what I’m thinking about today.

Until next time….