Next Greatgran

Just got a call that my other grandgran for this month was born today.

James William Clark 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. This was a big baby. His moma is not a very big girl, but I understand she is alright.

Will post more when I know more.

Pictures of B & B Trip

Now that I can get pictures into the blog I want you to see a picture of the B & B and the group that spent the day.

The investment club has booked a night in July. I am hoping to get my family there when they come for our trip to Glorieta. The B&B is just a few miles from Glorieta. I am sure Michelle would love the dog and Steven the couples son they haven't seen each other since they were very small.

Anyway you get the idea of what a great time we had.

New Greatgran

Hurray, I did it I posted a picture Abigail was born Friday April 17, 7lbs 2 oz. 19 inches long.
That is two kids for E the rest of the grandkids are working hard at catching up with him. I have another greatgran due this month any day now, and another one due in July.

This little one has lots of dark blond hair and or course blue, blue eyes. All of the stuff animals I have given her are bigger than she is. I hear she is a good baby and sleeps a lot and is very quiet. I missed her when I took her teddy bear to her yesterday, I will have to try again today.
First little girl and if all the pictures are reliable the only girl in the three this year. I am glad she is here so I can spoil her. None of the grandgran will be close enough to spoil. After all that is what grans are for.

I was thinking about hubby today and how proud he would be that his family line is continuing. This little one carries his last name and one of the other ones due this year will carry his name as well. E's 6 year old carries his last name as well.

Change in My Life

I have been invited out to lunch twice in the last week.

It is hard to wait for someone to open a the door of the car for me.

The gentleman is a member of my church. I met him in the once a month dinner group. He goes to the late Sunday morning service. I usually go to the early service. One of the things I have missed the most is a male to discuss things with. I guess I just miss the male point of view. So far we have spent a lot of time talking about his deceased wife and my deceased hubby. He has a military background so that is familiar.

The lunches have been a pleasant time.

Happy Easter

I had a beautiful experience this morning. Our little Methodist Church uses a large building which is really a gym. One wall has small windows in the shape of a cross this is used as the front of the church. A lady of the church has made gorgeous hangings that are hung along the side in the front and in the front on either side of the window. The hangings today have a bunch of grapes, a sheaf of wheat, a cross and etc.

The sermon was on the open tomb. That moment became a frozen moment in time for the women who were there. We were ask to think of a frozen moment in time that we have had. When I close my eyes I see Penni the last time I saw her. I held her hand a little while right after she died. When I opened my eyes I looked up to try and keep from crying. In the little round window, above the windows that made up the cross, there a was beautiful gold butterfly.

As anyone that knows anything about my daughter they know she loved butterflies.

This may be just a one of those things but it lifted my spirits and made me know I shouldn't keep thinking of her as dead abut alive and tranformed like that butterfly.

Beautiful Day

It took two weeks of planing to get everyone off for April 7. I borrowed my son's van to take a group of friends up to the bed and breakfast. Arrowsridge is about 10 to 15 miles north of Glorieta. The road which is private gets better each time I go. Joe works on it all the time, it bumpy but easily passable. The beautiful house made of adobies sits on the top of a little mesa and looks out over the valley to the north. Joe and Annie with help made all of the adobies and build this beautiful house doing all the electrical, plumbing and laying of tiles, plastering, decorating and creating this amazing house. Don Imus lives below Arrowridge you can see the tops of his house from the rim of the bluff. It is so still and quiet the birds flit from tree top to tree top with nothing to scare them off. We were met by the guard dog of the household his name is Piper and he loves a pet or two in his time. He has beautiful markings, the story goes he found his way to Arrowsridge and decided to stay. He is very protective of the Joe and Annie and their son Steven.

It was a gorgeous day 70 degrees with little wind. We were almost an hour late getting out of town but we were on our way with 5 instead of the 7 we planned on taking.

We arrived in time for lunch, tables were set with formal dinnerware awaiting our arrival. Annie is the most terrific chef. She had to shoo all of out of her kitchen to serve lunch. Lunch was carrot soup with crab on top. Salad greens with strawberries and nuts in a sweet salad dressing. Main course with grilled asparagus, chicken breast stuffed with a yummy filling, on a bed of pasta. Dessert was light coconut cake, lay ed with lemon curd, icing was real whipped cream.

Afternoon was spent in investing the house, walking around looking at the great scenery, and just talking with each and every person there.

We didn't start home until 7:00 so it was a long day but great good friends, good food, beautiful scenery. We need to plan more days like this one.

Insurance Companies

My last couple of posts haven't made a lot of sense . I have outlined this one so maybe my thinking is clearer.

Both of my sons think I understand a lot more than I do. I try very hard to keep up with my educated sons. Having worked for 15 years in the education field I understand that degrees do not necessarily mean intelligence. I have worked very hard at self education, reading hubbies required reading in his college classes. Reading the set of encyclopedics we had at home, studying various fields I worked in.

I have been trying to make some sense of the financial mess the world is in today and I am really struggling. Number one son has a lot of information on his blog that is sometimes very difficult for me to understand. Number two son doesn't spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. Maybe I have too much time on my hands is why I am trying to understand it. So here I go at my understanding.

1954 father-in-law (less than a high school education), he reads everything that is printed that he can get his hands on. Prediction corporations (what or who?) will take over the world. It was such of silly idea that we didn't find out why or how he came to that conclusion. I wish now, I had paid more attention.

1961 Homeowners policies new product for insurance companies. I was working for a Savings and Loan and they wanted to persuade all their mortgage holders to change fire policies for homeowners. This began my years of working in the insurance field first fire and casualty and ending up in life insurance in 2000.

Here is some of the things I learned about insurance. Insurance was started to provide coverage for ships and their cargo. Lloyd of London, had a group of men who would underwrite or pledge so much money to cover the ship and cargo that it would arrive at the port intended for the goods. If the ship and cargo was lost they would pay what amount of money they had pledge to the ship owner. If the ship an cargo arrived they had a profit from the premium they had charge for pledging there money. Groups of men pooled money to set up insurance companies to cover not only ships and cargo's but fire insurance, and other types of insurances. Insurance companies were then founded. Laws were enacted to protect public to ensure that they had a big enough pool of funds to pay claims in case of a catastrophe. That money had to be invested to keep the company a float. Claim pools had to be invested very secure investments. Premiums had to be large enough to pay expenses of insurance company and add to the claims pool. Then you understood the law of large numbers that keep that pool of money at a safe level.

Somewhere along about the late 60's or early 70's I became aware that corporations were buying up big insurance companies. Why? Or course they discovered that large claims pool that by law insurance companies were required to keep. If the corporation owned the insurance company it was a small matter to get the laws changed to get there hands on all that money.

2009 Government is having to loan money to insurance companies to keep there doors open?
Corporation (who?) got there hands on the claims monies. Now they were no longer required to keep such a large claims pool, so what were premiums used for (?) obscene salaries and bonus's.

Why working for 48 years off and on in the insurance field did I only make enough money to pay a mortgage and feed a family. Something is wrong with this picture or is something wrong with my thinking?

Unity

Does everything happens for a reason. My little Methodist Church has a month or longer program entitled "What I would do if I had one month to live?" Sorry this is too close to last year I can't live through that again. I told the pastor I would be back after this program is over. By chance I stabled into a Unity church meeting in the local elementary school cafeteria. I found the widow of my hubbys first Principal she is a member of the church. I had been thinking of looking her up.

I have been there for the last three weeks. I was by myself the first time by myself with family members the second week and Shari came today. I have been trying to get Shari anywhere near a church for months. So today was a break through and she really let me talk to her about about Jesus and being saved. She really listened for a change.

Earliest Political Quesion

I don't remember how old I was when I first became aware that the State of Colorado was about to execute a man. I was very concerned that what if he wasn't guilty? How could you give him back his life if you found out he wasn't guilty? I kept asking why the state would do such a thing. No one could give me an answer then and no one can give me an answer now.

I'm glad it is the Governors decision and not mine. I'm also glad that it isn't the deciders decision.
Keep loging on and I will post the Governors decision.

Pictures of my new dog Missy

I have had my new puppy a little over a month now but you can see she has made herself at home. She is so sweet and lovey. She stays at my heels all day, while I am gone she sleeps on the pillow on my bed.

Mark was over and helped me a lot, maybe I can post pictures once in awhile.

When I have a free day to just scan pictures into my computer and put them on CD's. I may be sending a box of family pictures to the boys. After I get them on a CD I need to reduce the amount of storage space. My little office is getting organized little by little.

Enjoy pictures of Missy I am really enjoying her.

Rocking in the Wind

I was offered a balloon ride by the couple that head up the Bible Study. Getting up at 5:00 am didn't stop me from going on this adventure. When I was little I use to dream of swinging in the wind. I was in a porch swing way up in the air swinging in the wind. This hour long balloon ride was as close to that as I will ever get. I went up once before but it was only 15 minutes. It is so peaceful and calm up in the air drifting over the west side.

Hubby was the night security a little college on the river bluff while he finished his degree. During his time there it was the only thing on the bluff above the river. The kids had to walk miles to the bus line on Central. I could see all the roof of that little college among all the houses they have built around it. Hubby took classes there as well as number one son. I think number one sons BA degree is from that college. I quess our lives were very involved with it at one time.

I located my old house it was the only green roof on the west side of the golf course. It was a little more difficult to find my present house but I did I didn't like the looks of my roof. I need to get someone up there to look at it.

We couldn't find a place to land so we kepted sailing along until we were over my sons house. We called to him and he looked up. I called grinnygranny on the phone and they came out and helped take the balloon down.

We went to breakfast after the trip and had a good time just getting to know one another. I spent part of the afternoon with son and family. All and all one of the best Sundays I have had sence I returned . I have been back almost a year. It has been such a busy and eventful year. Maybe the next year will be more peacful and calm.

LIES LIES LIES AS NEWS ON TV

If you eat properly you will not get cancer. My mother never ate any other way and as the cook my father didn't either. Penni was never a junky food eater. They all had cancer. I have never eaten the healthy way and so far I haven't had cancer. The lies they are putting out makes me mad.

I am officially out of a church for the next 6 weeks my pastor has a 6 weeks series and entire program on "What if you had 30 days to live". I can't stand the tittle much less the thought of 6 weeks of that theme. My friend Annie is coming by for me Sunday. I am anxious to go to a black Baptist church again. I'm going to continue my Bible Study on Thursdays.

My group grief counseling if over and I'm glad if I can find the money I need to see Kintree again.

I am slowly getting my house in order and decorated. Rich even has me working on the office he is helping me get every thing compacted.

My Bible Study group is fasting on Thursday nights, no more snacks. I'll see how I get through this for the next 6 weeks? I don't know when is Easter?

Now I am ranting like my son.

Work ahead for me

It suddenly dawned on me that I have 3 great grands due this year. I usually make a oversize receiving blanket. The only catch is the time it takes to crochet all the way around them. I looked for the same kind of flannel that I use to make them out of before. I finally found three different one that I think are appropriate. I was looking for the pretty ones but most everything is geared to little kid prints . The ones suitable for PJ's. The only pretty one is a blue one for a boy.

I purchased them now is just to find the time to do the crocheting. That means lots of TV time. I was getting away from so much TV.

I visited the Retired Teachers same old problems they are going to the roundhouse the first of the month. I want to try to go with them.

I missed church this morning the title of the sermon was "What would you do if you had one month to live". Sorry that is too close to the last year to even try to think about it. The SS class was going to discuss homosexually. They didn't want to hear my take on that one. I'm not sure any church or SS class is going to fit anymore. My Bible study class comes closer to my take on things.

Grief Counseling

I have been going to grief counseling a group workshop. Three weeks into this workshop I am still wondering why I am in this one it isn't anything like I thought it would be. To be honest I haven' got much out of it so far. But, I did have a eye opening moment this last week. I have felt so alone in this grief. Yes, I knew that David was grieving alot but another way. But, it suddenly dawned on me, I am not in this alone Bruce and Pat have lost as much as I have. They lost their father and their sister.

I guess I need to apologize to both of them I haven't been as understanding as I should have been

Missy or Baby

I finally adopted a dog from the animal control shelter. They were calling her curly, CURLY, that's a name for a ginny pig not a dog. She answers to the name Baby and some times to Missy. I'm trying for Missy. She is housebroke but I have trouble getting her to stay out long enough to do anything. She is a house body, she wants to lay on a pillow on the recliner or on the bed and sleep.

Melissa and I picked her up from the shelter, Melissa drove us home and Missy fought me all the way. We dropped her off at the doggy day spa. I took a little blanket with me when I went to pick her up. She saw it and laid down on it and didn't move all the way home. She likes soft blankets or a pillow.

I thought she was a poodle. her hair, ears and part of her nose would led you to believe that. Her legs are very, very short and her back and rear end are almost square. I'm not sure what that makes her except cute as a button. She likes to play and wanted Daniel to play with her when he was here.

I'm going to have some lattice put up in the garage with a gate. I'm afraid that Missy will runout while the car is going in and out. I was unhappy with the mess in garage being in plain view of the patio entrance. The lattice will take care of that problem .\

I'll have something else to write about except my health.

Dogs, dogs, and more dogs

I have been visiting the city animal shelters. I found a small poodle at the east side shelter Friday. They won't let me touch the dog until the 28th of the month. The dog is a stray and previous owners have until then to reclaim the dog. We got her to the edge of the cage and she licked our fingers and wagged her tail. A couple of cages down is a 9 year old beagle who keeps calling to me and wants to come home with me in the worse way. Her name is Penny. I saw both of these dogs on Friday briefly and put a $10.00 hold on the poodle.

P and L went with me on Saturday morning. We visited the west side shelter first and found a poodle that was so dirty and overgrown matted hair. We took her into a small shelter just the three of us. She shivered and shook the hold time. We got her to let us pet her she finally stopped shaking and opened her eyes. The hair was so thick and matted that I had a hard time getting it parted so she could see. They wanted us to take her home. I couldn't take her home without a trip to a doggy beauty shop no way on a Saturday.

We went up to the east side shelter and played with the poodle I have a hold on. She seems to be the best bet for the time being. The beagle talked to me again and told me how much she wanted to come home with me. P found a german shepherd that looked almost like Harvey. P could have taken him home in a heartbeat but 2 dogs, a cat, and 6 people make for a house full.

I keep worrying about the matted poodle, do I really need two dogs?

Another Rant

Last week it was the MVD today it is a place call lap dog rescue. They say they have so many dogs to place and yet I have been unable to get one. They were ready to give me a Bion (sp) but I had to go to Texas so they gave that one away. Now they said I could have a Corgi, but they left a message on my recorder and said they decided the dog was too hyper for me.

Sadie was a rat terrier and they don't come any more hyper. Shari says I need to call they and tell them to forget I even applied.

I'm letting my temper cool abit before I call and tell them I am going to look elsewhere for a dog. I can't believe they are that picky about some one that wants to give a dog a home.

More Govement Red Tape

I have spent the last two days trying to get my car registered and a New Mexico drivers license. The office I chose to obtain these was reasonably close to the house. I had to make a second trip because I didn't have proof of address, it seems all you need is a bankstament or a light bill to prove you live at an address. Then they wouldn't issue a new license because I didn't have my SS card. I spent all last night an half of yesterday tearing up my records but I didn't have it. Two moves in less than a year I'm not surprised, the SS office was a long ways across town. Also, I have burned and sheded all kinds of records. I had to get rid of two, two draw filing cabinets, I use to have 4. I keep every piece of paper in the world but evidently not my SS card. I couldn't apply on line for one because my mothers maiden name was not spelled correctly. All my birth certificates have it spelled differently. After a lot of negotiations at the SS office I got them to spell it like my grandmother spelled it and my mother spelled it. The crazy thing about this is that today would have been my mothers birthday.

I bought a large clear vase at a garage sale. I cleaned it up and put it on the floor in the living room. I am making a fish tank out of it. It is the same shape as the little jars you see with fish and a plant. The plant lives in the water and helps feed the fish. Only mine is large enough to sit on the floor by my TV. Pat gave me part of the plant he has in his little fish vase and I had rooted another piece, so I have two pieces for the top. I bought a gravel (blue) for the bottom and added a shell I brought back from the last cruise. I bought a plant for the bottom and a maroon beta fish. Fishy is still in his little container, I filled the big vase with water and it is way to cold for him I am hoping it will warm up by morning.

You can see how exciting my life is I have to blog about a fish tank.

Shari and I did pickup a man at the buffet tonight, had a very lovely dinner with a male companion. That's a blog for another time.

NEW YEAR 2009

This has to be a better year. I started out with the conviction of getting my financial records in order. I have worked two days on Quicken to get it upto date. I don't want to ever get that far behind again.

I started out today with a new Primary care Doc and have spent the rest of the day scheduling appointments with a whole slew of Doc's. This week is really filled up with appointments.

I got a strange letter in the mail today I'm glad I'm not prone to secret societies. They are promeising me love, love, love.

Home again home again hopity hop

I wish it was that easy to fly anywhere these days. Southwest is limited by something called the Wright amendment. That keeps them from flying directly to some cities. I don't know if that was the reason but you can't fly from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque without going through Dallas. Dallas? If you look at a map you see that Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Albuquerque make a triangle. The shortest distance from one point to another is a straight line not a triangle. Any way to make a long story short. I am home again after a 2 1/2 hour delay in Dallas due to our plane being late from back east.

Christmas was good in Oklahoma and spening time with my grandkids there. Military life does not allow for holidays with families across the country. I am now going to try and be great grandma to a 6 year old for the next few days.

No longer a caregiver I will have to try to restructure my life in another direction. I started calling while out of town to make Doctors appointments. My next problem is a church service so early that it mess's up my entire day. I am going to try the other church services before I give up on the church. They have been so good to me all this year.