Grandkids

Yesterday was my grandsons B-day. We went to watch my granddaughter play softball and then went to dinner to celebrate his B-day. He didn't get a party this year...only dinner with immediate family. Rich and I were the only grandparents there. He has not been doing his homework, so no party.

We had a really good time. I found out that my granddaughter...7 yrs old...cheats at tic-tac-toe. I had already won and she put down another X making three in a row and said, "I WON!!!". Then she says, "look dad...grandma cheated. I already won and she put another mark and made it look like she won."

I blame him!! She is a daddies girl, he has created a monster!

Look what we came across while riding Saturday. We didn't talk to the guy that rode it, but some one that was outside said that the guy found it in an old barn....looks like he got it started and just rode it. I probably would have cleaned it up, but then it wouldn't have looked so interesting.


Rich got his heads back on around 1 pm....about the time that some friends stopped by. We rode till 9 pm. First ride of the year that I was able to ride without a jacket....I wore a sweat shirt.

Sunday was even nicer...T shirt weather. We rode up to WI for the day with friends. I'm sun burned..even with sun screen! On the way home we stopped at the store to pick up steaks and corn on the cob for grilling.

I start my new classes today so gotta get busy....just wanted to post my sighting.

Celebration time!!!!

Out of 6 classes this semester I got 6 A's!!!!! WHOOOOPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Two semesters down and two to go. The next semester starts Monday. I got a whole 6 days off between semesters. This next one should be easy with only two classes....Knock on wood. If I can find full time work I can still handle two classes.

Kids...even when they're grown they scare you.

I had a scare with my son today. His uncle died of a heart attach at the age of 34...hereditary condition. My son drove himself to the hospital while having chest pain so bad he could hardly breath. I was on the phone with him the whole way, not wanting to let him go and keeping him talking. Probably not a good idea, considering he was driving, but I could not talk him into stopping and waiting for an ambulance. I am an hour and 15 minutes away from him. It's the longest frickin drive ever. I talked to the DR and told her she better not let him go with out a complete check up because of his family history.

I was at the hospital the first time my brother-in-law went to the hospital with heart symptoms. We both worked at the same place so I followed the ambulance. Because he was only 34, they told us he was fine, that he probably pulled a muscle. He was too young for a heart attack. He died two days later of a massive heat attack. I had both my boys tested and this one tested positive with the gene.

When my mother died, she was released from the hospital at 3:30 PM and at 6:00 she had a massive heart attack and died. they said she had pain because she fell when she passed out.

You can imagine my attitude when they are telling me he's fine and probably just pulled a muscle. I told them they better not release him before I can get there and they better run every test available or I would see to it his daughter owned a good part of that hospital if something happened to him.

They kept him most of the day and ran heart enzyme tests and EKG's and kept him on a monitor. Finally, after allot of testing they let him go. This is the diagnosis they gave.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/costochondritis/ds00626

1st decade of the century part 5

2005

January.....We welcomed in the new year in AZ. Rich's Daughter lives near Phoenix and my brother (Joe's) 3rd son lives 2 1/2 hours south east of Phoenix. His daughter had reservations made for dinner and a new years party at an old western town...(Rawhide Wild West Town????) The food was awesome and the band was good too. I took a day and drove down to see my nephew. He owns a shop there and couldn't just close up for my visit, so I hung out with him while he worked on front-end alignments. I took a drive up into the mountains after lunch and came back for another hour or so and had to head back towards Phoenix leaving a promise that I would drive back down on Sunday when the shop would be closed and we could really spend some time together. His daughter took us to a lodge for dinner on Saturday night that was up on a mountain side. it was all lit up with lights and just really nice. She tried real hard to make our visit a good one and did a good job of it. On Sunday Rich decided to ride down to Tim's with me....give his daughter a well deserved break from us.

Tim is 6 months older than me. When I spent my 2 weeks during the summer at Joe's, we would go down to the creek and catch craw daddies and tad poles and smoke. If Joe knew we were smoking, he would have had both our hides. This was when he lived in Southern IL. He moved to CA near my other brother to get away from the cold. His business didn't workout there, so he relocated to the town my nephew lives in. That didn't turn out any better so he headed to Phoenix. He did better there business wise, but that's where he was killed.

Back to our drive to Tim's....My mind tends to wonder when I think of Joe. We had a good visit with Tim....him and Rich had allot in common. Rich wanted to see Tombstone and Tucson so we left Tim's and headed to Tombstone. We got there about dinner time and found a place to eat. There was a woman sitting at the bar by herself and someone playing old western songs on the piano. We found a place at the bar and got into a conversation with the woman sitting there and it turned out she was married to the piano player and was waiting for him to get off work. They invited us to meet them where the locals hung out at Johnny Ringo's. We found a little motel to stay at and went to the local drug store to pick up toothbrush's, toothpaste, and a comb....we came unprepared to stay over night. We then met up with them and had a really good time. We always seem to meet the nicest people. Next morning we did some sight-seeing.

After looking around town a while, we stopped at the western shop where she worked and said our goodbyes and thanked her for the good time.We drove through Tucson and Yuma and then back to His Daughter's, bringing with us filets from the store for a cookout.

March.....My brother who is only 2 years older than me (the one on the Duo Glide with me and Joe) came out from AZ for a visit. It was good to spend some time with him. We did allot of visiting with family here.

April.....It took us till April to use the gift certificates I got everyone for Christmas....dinner and a murder mystery in Chicago. The guys....as usual, moaned and groaned and complained about it and they ended up enjoying it the most. Everyone had a little history about each of the characters and a script but didn't know what was on anyone else's script. We had to figure out who was the killer and who would die. They lined up all the suspects and the victim against the wall. This lady comes running up to my oldest son and shoots him with a cap gun. He looks at her like, what was that all about?? The lady who organized the mystery, tells him, you've been shot, DIE! He grabs his chest, falls back against the wall and slides down to the floor.

The same group that organized this one does a mystery on a train from Chicago to Milwaukee. Someday I would like to do that.

We also went to see my grand daughter in a school musical during April. There is something about school plays that is so cool. I guess you have to be a parent or grand parent to understand.

May.....A friend of ours called us and asked us if we wanted to go see B. B. King.....IN DALLAS/FT WORTH, TX!! Rich's reaction....Sure, no problem....My reaction....Are you nuts?? We got a limo to O'hare and flew out EARLY Saturday morning. They drive a heard of cattle down one of the main streets....at this point I don't remember why. Then we went to see a rodeo, had a really good steak dinner and headed to the show. The next morning we walked around town for a while and headed back to the airport....is that nuts or what? We did have a good time....no regrets!

June.....Another family reunion in PA. We took the car for this one....we got tired of always getting rain the whole trip and this was the only trip north we had sun the whole trip. This time we found more of my dad's family. The lady in the rocker is my cousin....you may remember that my dad was 63 when I was born...so...hence the age difference. I was named after her mom because I was born on her birthday....which was also Easter Sunday and my parents wedding anniversary. The other two ladies are cousins from my dad's other sister and the boy is John, he is son to the lady on the left. He is so sweet....he loves everyone.

July.....We did some more hot air balloon rides. By this time we were his official crew and Rich was learning to fly. This is what it looks like inside the balloon while it is being inflated. The next shot is our recovery team packing up equipment and getting ready to chase us....which usually includes me....the third shot is our town from the sky.

August.....We did a bike trip to Co. That will be a blog in it's self. Stay tuned!

Sept.....My son called and asked if I would take the kids for 5 days while they went to Cancun. For the most part, this would be cool. My youngest grand daughter at the time liked only mom, dad and the babysitter....she would not have any part of any one else, including me. I asked if it would be just the 2 oldest ones and he said, "no, it's a package deal." I agreed thinking that if Rich didn't like it, I would just stay at their house for the whole five days. I would be there for three any way since the two oldest kids had school. When I told Rich I agreed to do it, he said, "I'll take the two good ones and when the little ones head start spinning and green stuff comes out of her mouth, you're on your own.

Tuesday night....I head over right after work and pick them up from the sitter. The little one is not happy at all. I tried to make it fun but bedtime was hard. Wednesday comes and I got the two oldest ones off to school and dropped the youngest off at the babysitter then headed to work. When I dropped Julia at the sitter she looked sooooo sad. I promised I would be back right after work and she said; with a tear in her eye, "OK grandma, promise?" . I gave her one last hug and out the door I went. The last time I had that much trouble leaving a kid was her dad on his first day of school. I walked him to his classroom door and the whole way, he kept telling me he could do it himself. NOT A CHANCE!!!

On Friday, after I got them from school, we headed to our house to spend the rest of the weekend here. Julia again was not happy at the thought of being around Rich. She had finally gotten used to me, only because she knew I was the one taking care of her till mom and dad got back. Inside of an hour, they became best buds and she couldn't get enough of him. We went out to dinner at a wild west place and after dinner we went to the camp fire behind the restaurant and they had a great time. Saturday we took them out on the boat and put them on the tube. They had a blast. Sunday our town was having the town festival with parade, clowns, face painters, rides and more. Mom and dad came home at about dinner time, so we met them at a restaurant half way between us. Julia had fallen asleep in the back seat of the truck and when my son tried to wake her....she's a daddies girl....she looked at him and...since he was the one to leave her at the sitters on Tuesday morning....she said, "you left me" and headed for the drivers door where Rich was and she had to have Rich carry her in. Then she sees mom and it's all over for Rich. I was so worried about having all three of them and it was for nothing. I couldn't have asked for better behaved kids. It was a total pleasure. I'm not sure if me and Rich had more fun or if the kids had more fun.

Those were the highlights of 2005.

Making the grade

I have all my finals done for this semester except my accounting exam. So far I have final grades of A's in all my classes. I actually got a 100% in my office technology class, which means that I did not miss a single point through the whole class. I like computers and seem to catch onto software programs fairly easy. It helps that I have worked with two of the four programs covered in the class.

I have a low A in accounting and teetering on a B. If I don't get an A on the final exam, my final grade will be a B...breaking my straight A record. I guess I'm a little anal about getting A's. I am so determined to do well. It's harder at my age, and each semester the work seems to get tougher. I only have 5 classes to go to graduate. I can only take 2 classes during the summer because they don't offer many classes in the summer semester. Then I will have 3 for the fall semester. I should be able to handle it with a full time job...if there is a full time job to be found. I am hoping the grades will give me a little bit of an edge with a job and show that I'm worth taking a chance on. There are so many people looking for work who have degrees and experience. I know it won't be easy.

I am so tired of being broke. As you can see from past blogs, I was used to going places all the time. I know I won't make the money I used to make starting all over in a new field. The truth is, after 33 years in printing, I have to learn something else. The printing industry is all but gone. I can't count on it.

I applied for a job at a printing co in town here. I told him I was willing to work anyplace in the building...I can be put anywhere in the company since I started in production at my old company and worked my way up to supervisor, then on to an office position. I told him I was willing to work full-time, part-time or just on call when someone called in. I don't have to be trained and I'm hungry for work. I told him I don't expect full-time wages for part-time work...he said he would be in touch but never called. It reminds me of the games people play while dating. If you’re interested just say so...if not, don't say you'll call.

Back to the books. Wish me luck with my exam on Tuesday.

Thoughts of Joe

I was just thinking about my brother Joe. I do that allot.

For those of you who have read my blogs entitled Background and Bad memories renewed. you know a little something about him already. I decided to post my favorite picture of him. It shows him as the person he was.

When this picture was taken....I was very shy and timid to say the least....I just look totally content to be on his lap. My mom told me there were few people I would go to and he was one of them. This picture was taken in Kansas City, Mo, where I was born. He lived in IL and rode down several times a year. I don't know what month this was, but look at the gloves he had on. I know the bike was a 59. I was born in April of 58, so I think this had to be taken early 59, maybe late 59. It almost looks like there could be snow between the electric pole and the building and maybe between the bricks in the alley. This could be possible since I know he rode in most any weather.

I remember a story my mom told me about one of his trips to see us. He had a mustache and when he walked in the house, it had frost on it from his breath. Now that is die hard riding. I have ridden in high 20's-low 30's going over Wolf Creek Pass CO in the middle of the night. We got to the top and stayed in the heated washroom till daylight came and the temperature rose. Now that I know how cold it can get at the top, I will never ride a pass at night again. For me, if I am on a trip and hit bad weather, I will tough it out, but I don't head out into it around home. If it's cold, (below 50) I'm not riding. I guess I'm just not the rider he was. He has ridden all the continental United States including Alaska and most of Canada.

I'm planning to take a ride to Southern IL to see his former wife some time after I get passed the finals for this semester. My nephew (his youngest son) rides too, so I will have to get in a ride with him while I'm there. Maybe my sister-in-law will hop on the back with him. She used to ride her own; many, many years ago. She has had some health issues this past year but, I bet she'll ride with us.

I have been talking to my oldest nephew in NE about meeting half way and doing a bike trip some place. His kids are finally old enough for him to get back into riding and he has got my brother's bike rode worthy again. Maybe Daniel will come up from southern IL and join us.

I imagine that will be a bitter sweet ride filled with a lot of really good memories.

Sunday ride

We finally had nice enough weather to ride Sunday. Cloudy, but upper 60's.

The guy that taught Rich to ride, many, many years ago, came over to pick up his bike....Rich had just changed the tires on it Saturday. This friend has a new girlfriend who he neglected to inform that we were riding. She was wearing mules, crop pants and tank top. I asked her if she was going to be OK dressed like that. She said, "sure, I'll be fine".....I didn't realize she has never had any riding experience before and didn't know what she was in for. Hell...she didn't even know we were riding.

Upper 60's with clouds is definitely jacket weather and she had nothing with her. When we made our first stop, I offered her my vest. She eagerly excepted. I gotta give her credit, she's a trooper. We were out for about 6 hours and she never complained.

So guys....when you're dating a new girl who has no riding experience, at least warn her about the difference in the temperature of riding compared to standing in the sun. Make sure she understands the importance of proper clothing and about muffler burn. He didn't even warn her about that so I took the liberty. Not everyone is cycle savvy.

I told her she should keep a jacket, sweat shirt, jeans and a pair of sturdy shoes in her trunk just in case. We are planning a three day ride sometime this summer with all of our riding friends, I think I will talk to her before the trip so that she'll know what to expect and be prepared.