Too many dang changes

Life is getting crazy. First Brian and Robin take my beautiful granddaughters to live in a nuclear waste site.

Now Sondra and Shane are moving Mason to Missouri - the land of goths and meth. So much for "the heartland."

And then of course, our ongoing job searches in Arizona. To make matters worse Des Moines, Iowa might be in the mix with a AP job. But really, Des Moines? I think cows outnumber people there, so I highly suspect I might decline any offer of employment should it be offered, of course.

I don't know what was so wrong with Oklahoma. I like Oklahoma. I don't really want to move from Oklahoma. People are nice here. We have friends. We live within driving distance of both parents (his and mine.)

At the same time I see the wisdom and logic behind Ray's desire to move to Arizona. And, the bright spot there is that I'll get to be near my big sister for the first time in many many years. I might mention while we're both still young enough to go get into trouble together. No comment from the kids on that one.

The thought of not only building a house but actually having it paid off in five years is more than appealing. It's a smart idea. OK OK -- you see the progression here. I'm talking myself into this. I'll be honest. The 130 degree days scare the hell out of me.

Well, it does look as if my latest round of resumes has produced results. I've got one job interview lined up for sure and two more likely will be lined up in the next few days. Looks like I'd better crank up the heater and learn to like sweat.

This should be an interesting year. Anybody want to guess where we'll all be one year from today? Me neither.

Mason and Me continued

Well the last post was short because Mason was "helping," which meant I told him what letter to type and he typed it. Time consuming.

But spending time with grandkids never gets old even if it means doing the same thing over and over again or doing something painstakingly slow.

Our daily "any time we want " time with Mason is short. Sondra and Shane are planning to move with Mason to Missouri. That on the heels of Chloe and Mikayla leaving is very very sad.

We miss our little granddaughters but have been able to tolerate it by spending more time with Mason -- and crying occassionally. Now all three are going to be far away.

I guess we got spoiled over the last two years. We were certainly blessed to have them all with us. I suppose that will make the time with them all the more precious. And, the blogs and photos and emails certainly help.

Mason and Me

Mason spent the whole weekend with us while Sondra and Shane went up to Missouri to find a house. They founda town house and Shane found a job.

So this morning Papa went to work and Mason and I are just hanging out. We looked at the photos on the Daddy Daycare site. He is ready to go visit. He misses Chloe and Mikayla and Brian and Robin. He talks to them when he sees their picture.

A better week

Dad came home from the hospital Monday and mom reports that he's doing well. Now we just have to make sure she gets the rest she needs so that she doesn't get sick.

All is going well in my self-employment endeavors. Keeping busy with freelance articles and so far, managing a fairly decent schedule.

The job hunt in Arizona is ongoing. I'll be glad when and if we are there. Ray has convinced me that this is a good move. I'm sure it is.

But I'm still sad about leaving our friends.

My Dad

One of these days, I'm going to write a book about my dad. Some may wonder why. He's not the CEO of a major company, doesn't have lots of money and wasn't famous. But what he did was amazing. He raised 10 children, and he did it well. That's a lot. He's always "daddy," the one who provided the basics, made us laugh and could scare us with just one look.

He's in the critical care unit at Baptist St. Anthony's today. The diagnosis is congestive heart failure. I'm scared. We're all scared.

Time management

Now that I'm working at home, from home etc. I've run into a new problem. It's called time management. I get started on a project and get distracted by another project. So now, I've decided that I've got to have "work hours" and stick to those. Of course, the computer is a distraction in and of itself -- hence the new post.

Oh well, this is technically only my first week, so maybe next week I'll be more in tune with it all.

Cousins

For a long time when we were growing up, cousins were a big part of our lives. Lots of cousins. They and our brothers and sisters were our friends. They were the ones we got in trouble with, did crazy things like riding a bike with no brakes down a hill with and laughed with.

The last time I saw Willie was at my cousin Johnny's funeral. I didn't remember Johnny that well. The last time I had seen him, he was just a little boy. Somewhere along the way, my parents quit taking the annual trips to Fort Worth, so we had lost touch.

I also left home when I was 17 to go live in Montana -- far away from family. My fault then that I lost touch.

I guess it's not until you get older that you realize how much family means. How much it defines who you are.

I'm going to see Willie today. I'm going to his funeral.

I wish that I had taken time to drive the 3 1/2 hours to Ft. Worth, actually just a little further to Stephenville, to see Willie and listen to he and his wife, Yo Yo, as they laughed and talked. I wish that I had gotten together with Yo Yo and planned a family reunion like we talked about at the last funeral.

Willie would have liked that. He liked to laugh and talk. He missed us too, I know, because he went out of his way to go to visit my parents in the Texas panhandle.

We'll all miss Willie.

Friends

We've been blessed with wonderful friends throughout our lives.

Ray and I both keep in touch with some high school friends, who have seen us through thin and thick -- yes, that's a reference to our expanding waistlines and all the wrinkles. Funny things about high school friends is that you always have that connection. My friend Elaine and I lead inextribicably different lives, yet we still consider one another friends. It will be good to see Elaine this next year at the 30th (gulp) reunion.

Then there are our wonderful friends from Okinawa. Family, always. We shared joys and heartaches through the years.

Tom and Carol, our first close friends as married couples. We still cherish the crazy moments and value the current.

And now our circle of friends here in Oklahoma. We would never have imagined such caring people whom we share new experiences and find support from.

Thanks guys. It's great knowing someone is always there to call, laugh and cry with.