Flood!

All that snow we got last week is gone.  After several days of extreme cold and record amounts of snow (check out the picture on my previous post), it warmed up quickly.  Then the water started to run!  The whole state is under a flood watch, but we definitely got our share.  The tiny community south of us got a lot of water from an overflowing creek, then Manhattan was blessed from that same creek.

These are pictures from KBZK Bozeman News station.  The woman on the canoe is floating down main street!

The waters took out about a three block area of downtown.  Many businesses and some homes have been affected.  The hardest is going to be our little grocery store.  Just a Mom and Pop business, they are going to be devastated.  Not sure if they have flood insurance-that is extra on your policy and your community has to participate in the national flood program, which our county does.  The mayor is talking to the governor to get it declared a disaster area so they can all get federal aid.

But I have to be proud of my little town-Blackhawk!, a gun accessory manufacturer that just moved to Manhattan about a year and a half ago, gathered up all their employees and heavy equipment and pitched in alongside the emergency teams.  They managed to get all the water pumped out of the park (on the left in the bottom picture) and over to an area that could drain.  Then they drained all the basements.  Now comes the cleanup-today there was a huge dump trailer outside the grocery store and it was heaping full of damaged materials.  A bank that hasn't even broken ground for the branch they are opening here provided lunch yesterday and a dear couple that own the famous Sir Scott's Oasis provided Friday's lunch.  Stan and I are hoping to help out this week, even if it's bringing lunch to the helpers.

Draining water from the grocery store's basement.

The little grocery store. (Where the windows are)

The lady is from Manhattan Bank, probably touching base about cleanup.  Manhattan Bank is very community minded.

Thankfully, our house wasn't touched.  We live on the north side of town, and the railroad tracks prevented the water from coming our way.  It was a little dicey getting home since both roads out of town are on the south side of town.

This isn't a precedent.  I understand the town floods every so many years.

This is a snapshot from the Gallatin Historical Society showing the flood in 1928.  Identical to the picture from Friday except the trees are smaller.

So pray for the folks around the state-Livingston, a small town 50 miles east of here has been declared a state of emergency already and many communities in the eastern part of the state have evacuated.  Summer can come any time.

Aaarrrrrgh!

I spent the better part of three days working on a new blouse.  I spent an hour on the neckband, doing hand stitching.  I measure and measure and measure, because I know how hard to fit I am.  I finish it-it looks great-so I tried it on.  IT DOESN'T FIT!!! 

I really like how it looks-very crisp.

The neckline I worked an hour on.

Not sure what went wrong, but it won't fit over my round bottom.  I complained on Facebook and a young lady I know said she'd take it off my hands, so I guess all is not lost.  I am in need of some tops so tomorrow will have to be another sewing day.

After my big disappointment, we went into Bozeman to Bogert Park for the band concert.  When we arrived home, we saw all kinds of emergency vehicles in the next block.  I walked down and got the story-it seems a neighbor had decided to "deep water" his trees, so he was using a 4 foot rebar to punch holes in the ground in his backyard.  Yep, he ruptured his gas line!

Everybody on that block was evacuated and our block was alerted.  The power company showed up very quickly and shut the guy's gas valve off, so everything is fine now.  It was kind of a scare and I still have a headache from the gas smell.  I could smell it inside my house.

Just another day in our "quiet" small town....

Salt Lake City

It was a fun little trip.  The driving was easy and uneventful, and we didn't have any trouble finding our way around the city-the streets in the main part are on a grid, so you can navigate pretty easily.  Yesterday we dropped Millie off at the hospital for her checkup and went exploring.  I parked the car back at the hotel and we walked the 2 blocks to the Gateway Center-built specially in honor of the 2002 Olympics.  The three of us had gone there Monday night, too.

Millie and Gracie Monday night at Starbuck's-the coffee house looks out over the Olympic plaza.

Eight years ago, while Gracie was in the NICU, we brought her two big brothers here to the plaza to play in the fountain.  This week we got to take Gracie, something we weren't sure we would get to do back when she was struggling to live.

Then Gracie and I took the train downtown to a brand new mall we heard of.  I told Gracie to pick an activity to take her mom to, since she missed our day's fun, and she picked going back to the mall.

This city has a ton of fountains!

The name of the mall is City Creek and a creek runs through the entire mall, complete with trout!

 We had dinner at the mall-we hadn't ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, so that's what we chose.  The mall covers two downtown city blocks and is gorgeous!

We headed home today.  We debated which route to take-the way we went down had been hit with a horrible man-caused wildfire, mere minutes after we drove through on Monday.  Millie kept up with the local news on her smart phone, and found out the road had reopened, so since it's the shortest way home we headed that way.

As of this afternoon, the fire has covered 14,000 acres-quite a jump considering it just started on Monday.  This is the area where the fire jumped the highway and the river.  I took these pictures while driving.  I could have stopped on the road, since there were very few cars going through.

Right up to the road-with lots of active flames.

We drove by a home that had been leveled-outbuildings, garage, etc.  The only thing left standing was a child's swing set.  Made me want to cry.  Imagine my dismay when, after returning home, I find out that this is the home of my good friend's in-laws!  They lost everything.

Lots of rain is surely needed in the West right now.  Keep praying for a downpour.

Weekend

Another busy weekend.  A graduation party for my niece (so proud of her, she graduated a year early and is going to nursing school), a cookie baking frenzy for church, our monthly Bible study, and the hardest thing of all-seeing Sydney off for Great Falls to stay with his mom for the summer.  It's kind of hard when we've been a constant part of his life to have him gone so long, but he has his own phone and we'll be making trips up there during the summer.  We'll be going in two weeks to celebrate his birthday.  And we have four more grandkids in the area to spoil.

Got the garden planted-we had the joy of harvesting some things that had volunteered.

Cilantro-as good as the Mexican and a thousand times better that what you get in the US supermarkets.  It's in the frig waiting to be used in cooking.

Spinach-there was enough to cook-yum!

We also had quite a bit of red leaf lettuce-enough for two meals.

And our irises are blooming.

I'm going to call an acupuncturist tomorrow.  The chiropractor helped immensely with the back spasms, but I think I need to deal with the sciatic nerve more aggressively.  The guy I'm going to call is highly recommended.  Maybe he can work on my allergies, too.

Gonna be 85 degrees tomorrow-c'mon summer!

Hit the Ground Running

 I swear every time we go somewhere, when we get home our lives go insane!  I told you about the funerals, we had grandkids to watch, catching up on chores and now Millie has to have yet another surgery.  She has suffered from atrial fibrillation for quite a while and after her knee surgery it got way worse.  So Monday she and Jim are driving to Salt Lake City for a heart cath procedure.  Testing on Tuesday, procedure on Wednesday, out of the hospital on Thursday, and hopefully home on Friday.  Prayers are solicited for a safe surgery and a complete cure.  This condition was caused by a surgery gone bad ten years ago when she went septic aftewards.  She was in a fib for 2 1/2 weeks during that terrible time.  She squeaked through and survived, but has fought several problems that were caused by the sepsis.  I believe this is surgery number 11 to correct all the problems.

Gracie is going with them so she can see where she was born.  She is all excited, but also wants to be a nursemaid to her mommy.  Chris might go, Isaac is going to the other grandparents and Sam will be with us.  All this on their 20th wedding anniversary!

Oh yeah, and I caught a cold!

Here are a few more pictures from Mazatlan, I'll just think about that lovely place when I get too stressed.

On stilts with a hula hoop.  We met fun stuff like this on the way to the parade.

Tons and tons of confetti.  We paid for a buffet at the Hacienda and there were people on the balconies above us throwing bucketfuls of the stuff.

This year's queen-a very big deal.

Thousands of pretty ladies.

Not sure what this was supposed to mean, but it was neat.

Another gratuitous sunset picture.

The Carnaval parade lasted over three hours.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  Would I do it again?  Yes, but I wouldn't cram myself into that balcony, I would go out on the street with the people.  Although I met a lot of new friends that night.

Such a Pain!

Yep, that would be my lower back!  I did go to the spine people today, and got some really good news.  I do NOT have a ruptured disc!  Still not sure why the guy with the big needles and cortisone said I did.  He's an MD, you'd think he would know how to read an MRI.  The spine guy and I read it and in his words, "Your spine looks really clean!"  I could see it easily and I'm not an MD!  It's probably a tiny muscle causing the problem, the piriformis.  The sciatic nerve can run through that muscle and cause terrible amounts of pain.  Only thing is, they can't do anything for me.  Of course, they half-heartedly mentioned physical therapy, but my experience with that is less than optimum.

It's good news to me that there is nothing structurally wrong because now I can take over my own healing.  There are a few options open to me-accupuncture, massage, chiropractic, etc.  My friend Contessa recommends this book, and I think I will get it.  It has to be mailed, it's an older book and isn't available on Kindle yet, but that might be better-Stan can use it for his rotator cuff pain.

I'm reading some other books, too, about tension and the mind-body connection.  I just might combine both and come out on top!

Stan's sis is chomping at the bit to go to Mazatlan soon-like in a couple of weeks-but I'm not sure I can sit in a plane that long yet.  I really want to go, so I do have to get in shape quickly!

Hanaukka!

There is a group of Jewish families that have settled in our small town.  Super neat people-as a deacon I have worked with the rabbi on various situations involving the homeless.  At one time one of their group ran a shelter in Bozeman.  Now I must tell you that this group is Messianic-which means they accept Jesus as the final piece in the puzzle.  They observe all the Jewish holidays, Sabbaths and traditions, but they add the worship of Jesus as Messiah.  About four years ago, it was decided to add a menorah to the Christmas decorations downtown.  Some of the men went to work in their shops and made this beauty:

I don't know if the glass lights were hand made, but they kind of look like they might have been.  Very nice!

On to other things-Millie is doing well.  She had a reaction to one of the pain meds so they've changed it to something else.  She said this one works better.  She should be able to go home tomorrow.  Now comes the hard work and the long healing process.

As for my recuperation, I had an MRI and they found a ruptured disc.  I had one set of pain injections two weeks ago that did absolutely nothing.  They tried another drug that gave me some pretty interesting side effects-my hands and feet went numb.  I have the number to the orthopedic office memorized!  I had issues with some of the schedulers in the office-one made me wait three weeks for those injections.  And the knee doc's scheduler was condescending when I called and asked for a referral to the spine surgeon.  This is someone we've known for years-he repaired Stan's back, Millie's neck, and my nephew's femur after a nasty auto accident.  He calls me "Mrs. Santa."  The scheduler acted like I was too stupid to know what I was talking about and why would I want to go to a "surgeon?"  I told her to just pass the message along to Dr. LeGrand, and sure enough yesterday he called me and said he had gone over my MRI with, of course, the spine surgeon.  I need another set of injections that should relieve the pain and give us a definite diagnosis.  The hint was that eventually I'll have to have back surgery.  Not something I really want, but when you have that much pain you become willing to do anything.  Then a week after the shots I will see the spine guy's PA to see what my treatment will be.  While I had Dr. LeGrand on the phone I complained about some of the schedulers' behavior.  The next two calls I got were back to back-griping works if you reach the right person!

Oh yeah, and the guy that I had so much trouble with?  When that office called, I talked to a woman and she told me she just started working for Dr. Slocum yesterday.  Hmmm-wonder where that guy went-do you suppose they got rid of him?  The only downside is the soonest I could get in to get the next shots is next Thursday.  I don't want to wait, but any port in a storm...............

Home!

Well, we made it home!  We did have a wonderful time, not without a few hiccups.  We had trouble getting there-remember how nervous I was about making our Mexico City connection?  Well we didn't.  The Butte Delta people messed up our boarding passes so we had to get them printed in Mexico City, therefore missing our connection.  I love that my daughter-in-law is on my side-she took the Delta people by their short hairs and stood her ground until they agreed to put us up in the airport hotel for the night.  The only problem was there wasn't another Aero Mexico flight into Mazatlan until the 20th-four days from then!  So instead they flew us to Culiacan, about 120 miles from Mazatlan, and then we took a taxi to Mazatlan.  Crazy but it was cheaper than buying bus tickets for 11 people and quicker since we wouldn't have to stop in each little town.  Our luggage made it just fine to Mazatlan and after we arrived Tuesday morning, they brought it to the resort.

Here we are at the airport in Butte:

Then Salt Lake:

 

Then here we are in Mexico City, after our blowup at Delta, at the Carl's Jr. where Sam threw up on the floor.  (Oh yeah, of course we had a sick kid-makes the day complete!)  He doesn't look sick but boy he sure tossed his cookies!  He did it all night the night before, too.

At least we only had to walk to our gate from the hotel-no taxi needed.  Gracie begged her mom to please not wake her up so early again!

But we made it-in time for lunch:

 

And we got to see Dave and Laura for the first time in about four years.  I called Dave from Mexico City and told him to have dinner on me, and hopefully they would see us on Monday.  So glad they did see us!

We were exhausted, but we were finally there.

43 Years!

Happy anniversary to my sweetie!  We've been married 43 years-seems like 5.  That time just flew.  I told him this morning we would at least make 60 years-he wasn't so sure, but I reminded him his mom lived to 94,

We just had a quiet dinner at Sir Scott's Oasis.  We're going to be celebrating all week next week, so this was enough for today.  Our gift to each other is taking our whole family to Mazatlan, so we didn't have to unwrap anything!

Plane Troubles

I was sewing yesterday when the daughter-in-law called.  She had the foresight to plug her phone number and e-mail address into the Delta itinerary.  Well, they called her-my number was messed up somehow and I am sure glad she was on the ball!  It seems that Delta has cancelled its 6:20 Sunday morning flight out of Bozeman.  They just moved us to the 9:00 flight but that would make us miss our connection in Salt Lake City by 45 minutes-therefore the dominoes would fall and we would be getting into Mazatlan sometime on Monday.  Not acceptable for several reasons, the biggest being the three youngsters that couldn't take that much layover time, but also that would leave Dave and Laura all by themselves at the resort with the reservations in my name.

First I called Hotwire-why they didn't e-mail the change to me is a mystery-Expedia always e-mails me right away!  The guy on the phone was very nice but he said their "schedule change" people would look into it and get back to me within 24 hours.  It's a good thing I didn't wait and called Delta after checking the flights out of Helena, MT and Butte, MT.  Both towns are about 65 miles from us and it wouldn't be a terrible hardship to drive there.  They both had 6:20 flights with lots of room.  (Butte, MT on a Sunday morning?  Go figure!!!)  It took a lot of effort to get the Delta lady to understand what we needed.  I had to repeat several times that all we needed changed was our departure city-nothing else.  She kept saying that the other flights were booked up-I said "Of course, we are already booked on them!"  She was very nice and was not in India or someplace like that-she was definitely English-speaking.  After about 30 minutes with her consulting her supervisor to be sure it would be OK to switch airports we got it done!  I waited while she e-mailed me the itinerary.  Then I went on the Delta site and corrected my contact information.  Whew!!!

Now the plan is to rent a 12 passenger van Saturday afternoon and pick everybody up by 3:00 AM Sunday morning.  We'll drive to Butte, turn in our van and fly away.  Heck, we can sleep on the plane!!!!

The Delta lady insisted on getting us seats all together on the Butte flight.  I told her as long as we were on the same plane we would all be happy, but she insisted.  Millie says it's probably a good thing, only family would want to sit with Sam!  Of course Gramma would always want to sit with Sam!

Oh, and Hotwire never called back.  Guess it's Expedia from now on!

Going For It!

I had a visit with my knee specialist on Friday.  He had received a report from the physical therapist that was pretty grim-the therapy was pretty useless.  So-now I get a new knee!  They will be calling in a few days to set up a time.  My only request was that it be done after October 23, which is when we get back from Mazatlan.  The doc agreed-he thought it would be foolish to travel post-surgery, too.

I already have a walker and a toilet seat raiser-compliments of my sister-in-law in Billings.  She had her knee done in February so she knows the scoop.  We helped bring her home from rehab and I had to pull her off the toilet because she didn't have enough strength to get up on her own.  It was kind of funny, but her daughter went right out and bought the seat raiser.  Now I have it-LOL!

His only concern is my many allergies.  We might have fun controlling my pain without my violently reacting to the meds.  They are forewarned and are working on it.  I don't want a fiasco like I had with my last surgery-couldn't take the meds because they made me nauseous-something I had to avoid at all costs with that particular surgery.  So I spent a long night in excruciating pain.  Not this time-we're going to be ahead of it.  I hear this surgery HURTS!

I've started exercising in earnest, so my leg muscles are in tiptop shape, hopefully that will help me rehab quickly.  Now, between the upcoming trip and getting ready for surgery, I won't have a minute free!

An update-the surgery is scheduled for November 2.  First it was scheduled for Oct. 26, but 20 minutes later they called back and said the Dr. was out that week and would I mind waiting a week?  I would have rather gotten it over with, but that actually will give me more than a week after we get home from Mazatlan to get ready-clean house, cook and freeze my "safe" foods, etc.

Still Here...........

I've been MIA for a bit-other bloggers are starting to wonder what happened to me.  A nice feeling, knowing that I'm missed.  Mostly it's just been work, work, work.  And a good amount of time going to tee ball games.  Gracie plays on the rookies, Sam and Syd play tee ball, on different teams.  In the same town, thank goodness!  Sometimes Stan goes to one game and I go to the other one.  Then after our kid has batted twice, we hop in our cars and switch fields.  Fortunately the fields aren't that far apart-two are three blocks away and the other one is about ten away from the first two.

I've been knitting a bit, sewing a bit, cooking some, and not getting any gardening done.  This week was supposed to be the first week in my new hours classification (20-30 hours) but I ended up working today which brings me to 5 days this week.  That's still better than two weeks ago when I worked six days!  I'm getting too old for that. 

They hired a bunch of flex people who are supposed to go in and pick up all the extra hours.  We'll see if I can keep my hours down now.  I need work clothes but I'm working too much to make them.  I can't find anything at the store that fits my bottom-heavy body to my satisfaction so I really need to sew.  I also have a couple of orders to finish-one alteration and a table runner to sew and quilt.

Here are a couple of pictures of my little athletes:

 Three cute, enthusiastic future baseball greats.  Or at least they hope so!

They had opening ceremonies where they introduced all the teams, had a real person sing the National Anthem, and someone threw out the first pitch.  My guys are in there somewhere!

And Sydney lost a tooth today!

It's a Rule!!

In Montana it's the rule that you must have snow on Easter.  It doesn't matter if Easter is early or late, there will be snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

Everybody is getting a little crabby around here.  Thursday night we were hit with ANOTHER blizzard.  People are talking about moving somewhere warmer.  Our racks of summer clothes at the store are still full and look mighty lonely.  They even moved them closer to the restrooms so people could see them as they pass by, but when you have to slog through six inches of freezing slush, shorts and cute little tops are the last thing on your mind.  I am totally convinced that if Easter were in July, it would still snow!

It does make for a pretty sunrise picture, but I could do with a summer type of sunrise.

We've had a bunch of stressful things hit our family lately-some I can talk about, some I can't.  But all the stressors make me want to fly away to Mazatlan and forget about everything!

Anyway, have a blessed Easter, and remember that He loved us enough to die for us.

Eventually....

Eventually I'll get back to writing about our trip, but we've been tied up with Gramma this week.  We spent the night with her last night, and another sister-in-law will be there all this week.  Then after that we'll have to figure out who can stay for the next go-round.

She doesn't sleep much, and rambles on and on about things from 20 or more years ago.  She doesn't remember me.  She said, "I love you!"  "I don't know who you are, but I love you anyway!"  She called for my father-in-law, gone for twenty years, and today she told me she was fishing and caught a whole bunch of fish.  Later she told my sister-in-law that we had to do something with the fish in the garage so they wouldn't spoil.  A friend who has done a lot of care alongside Hospice told me this is all very typical.  It's kind of like she's rewinding her life.

She loves it when I read Scripture to her.  Her favorite verse is John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  She's got one foot in heaven and is waiting to get the rest of herself there soon.  One time during the night, I was sitting by her bed and she asked me who those people were behind me.  Dreams?  Hallucinations?  Angels, waiting for the signal to take her home?

This really is a privilege to sit with her while she makes the transition.  Just think, she gets to see Heaven soon!

Henry van Dyk, an inspirational poet from the late 1800's wrote this.  This is what it feels like watching her make the journey:

A Parable of Immortality
by Henry van Dyke

I am standing by the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch
until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, 'There she goes!'
Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the places of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
'There she goes!',
there are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:
'Here she comes!'

What's Happening Here

Well, let's see....  We have a train wreck, a two-day blizzard, and two trucks submerged in Canyon Ferry lake.  Just another day in Paradise!

17 cars derailed, with 14 cars completely turned over.  It happened at midnight Saturday and by midnight last night they were running again.  They had to replace a mile or two of track.  They probably worked fast to hurry up and get out of the cold!

And because of a two-week thaw, the ice on Canyon Ferry Lake was getting iffy, but a couple of folks decided to try it anyway,  One truck was recovered, one is still at the bottom of the lake, two people were rescued, and one is still missing.  The authorities have closed the lake to vehicles, Hubby and his brother are fishing near there, but they wouldn't dream of driving a pickup out on the ice now anyway.

The sun has finally come out, but it was a very frigid weekend.  The wind was blowing so hard you couldn't stand up and it brought the wind chill factor down to well below zero.  It was almost impossible to keep up with the shoveling.

But this week won't be quite so bad, hopefully.  Spring WILL come, even if it happens in July!

Of Course They're Really Family

A sweet member of my son's family passed away tonight.  Their four-year-old Pug, Daisy Mae, died after having seizures for the last week or so.  She was surrounded by four weeping children and their very sad parents. 

Millie found Daisy on Craigslist a couple of years ago, and couldn't believe her luck since they have always wanted a Pug.  Plus she was free.  She slid right into place in the family, stealing their hearts and attaching herself firmly to Isaac.  When Isaac would get home from school, she would jump into his lap, lean her back against his chest and purr-at least that's just what it sounded like!  She was his dog. 

Might not ever find out what caused her seizures and death, but there is sure an open spot in the family tonight.

Wine With Ice Cubes

Myrna was a sweet, slightly odd little lady.  She was brought here from California in the late 70's by her retired military husband.  He passed away, and she finished raising their two daughters.  By the time she was widowed, there was no one left in California and she loved it here, so she stayed.

She tended bar, she waited tables, she did whatever it took to supplement her husband's military pension.  Along the way she gained many, many friends.  I first got to know her when she was managing the local American Legion club and I waitressed at a small cafe she frequented.  We immediately clicked and had the best conversations.

Years went by-in 2002 she was diagnosed with colon cancer.  Miraculously, even though the cancer was bad, she went into remission and recovered.  She took up her routine again, by this time she was waitressing at a small restaurant by day, and helping out at a couple of bars at night.  Most evenings you could find her at Sir Scott's Oasis, sitting at the bar, sipping red wine with ice cubes in it, and helping out a bit here and there.  Her youngest daughter waitressed there and I think she was glad her mom was close by so she could keep an eye on her.

She loved to go to funerals.  She knew people from Three Forks to Livingston and thought nothing of driving 50-60 miles to attend the funeral of someone she had known.  She preferred to go by herself-she told me she wanted to be able to come and go as she wanted, not relying on her ride to dictate when and where.  At the restaurant she worked at during the day, she set herself up at the end of the counter with her coffee and newspapers.  She would sit and visit with whoever was seated next to her, periodically getting up to make milkshakes, clear tables, and pour coffee.  The funny part about her job there was that she had quit in 2000 but still showed up every day, helping out the waitresses totally without pay.  She rarely even accepted a tip, only when one of the waitresses would insist on it.  She just needed something to do.  When she felt her job was finished, she would gather up her papers, catalogs, and her fuzzy scarf and slip quietly out of the cafe.  We joked that she was just a little angel, slipping in and out as was needed.  She discovered those rocker-soled shoes, the ones that are supposed to slim your legs, and collected several pairs.  Pretty soon that was all she wore, tottering around town spreading her own quiet brand of warmth.

Around the first of November, she had a disagreement with the cafe owner and quit showing up.  I started losing track of her-sometimes I would see her green Honda parked in front of the local convenience store.  She would buy a coffee and sit at the Subway, visiting with anyone who happened by.  I joined her a few times, but then her trips there became rather infrequent.  Then I really lost track when I went to work again.  I kept looking for that Honda but to no avail. 

On Christmas Eve day, I was in the local grocery store.  I heard my name called and when I turned it was Myrna's younger daughter Michelle.  She told me her mom had had surgery two weeks before and had just gotten home from the hospital.  She said Myrna wanted to talk to me and gave me her phone number.  I went right home and called her.  Neither said the "C" word, neither talked about a prognosis, but in my heart I knew we were going to lose her.  She asked me not to visit quite yet-she got too tired and wanted to regain her strength.

Time rolled by-6 weeks came and went like lightening.  I kept thinking of her and looking for her car, hoping she had recovered enough to get out and about.  The grapevine said she was dying.  I decided that next week I was going to ignore her no-visit request and go see her.

Yesterday morning I opened the paper and there was her obituary.  She had died 5 days before and few of us knew.  Tears blinded me, and I sat there thinking about my loss-our loss.  A town's loss.  The loss of a gentle spirit who never asked for acclaim, never craved the spotlight.  An extremely private person.  She was just Myrna.  Myrna with her wine and her shoes and her fuzzy scarf-laughing at something somebody said.  Listening to all the stories, not judging-just listening.  She was mom to countless young people who didn't have loving parents, but they knew they could count on Myrna to listen.

There's a great big hole here in Manhattan, Montana now.  I know she loved her Jesus and she is with Him now, but doggone it-we weren't finished with her yet.

Get the coffee on, Myrna-I'll take the stool next to yours someday.

And They Say Mexico Isn't Safe!

Two weeks ago, several people had their houses and cars broken into, including our son's car.  Then last night 75 homes were either robbed or the attempt was made.  I think ours was missed this time, but maybe we just haven't discovered what was missing yet.  Here is the article from our local news station.

It cracks me up, because people think we're crazy for going to Mexico, because "it's so dangerous!"  We live in a town of 1500 people and 75 houses were hit last night....  Not to mention the Highway Patrol officer who was gunned down just 10 miles from here about a month ago.  Now just where is the danger?

A Christmas Moment

Just a quick story.  Thursday I got a call from the young man that usually drives Santa's fire engine at the Manhattan Stroll.  He wondered if it would be possible for Santa to stop by early on Christmas Eve because his mother-in-law was dying and he just wanted to keep the kids' spirits up during this hard time.  Turns out he lives next door to my daughter-in-law's sister.  Stan stopped by yesterday and saw the man's kids and he could tell it was a really tough time for the family. 

Got a call from my daughter-in-law a while ago.  The mother-in-law passed away this morning.  He told Millie's sister that having Santa come made Christmas for them.  What a privilege Stan has to touch lives like this!

Settled

We got Grandma settled into the rehab center. She doesn't have much pain, so that's good. I don't like the sound of her breathing but hopefully they're watching that. Sooner or later she'll be mad at us for putting her there, even though she HAD to go there. It's OK, we know we did the best thing.

I rode in the van with her from the hospital to the center. It was kind of a weird ride. I kept thinking that this was the last ride for her-the end of the line, I guess. We rode by the old hospital where my kids were born as well as some of hers, we rode by the building where she and Pappy used to have a sewing machine store, then we rode by the church we still attend and is right across from the home. And the last kicker was when they took us to her new room-number 232-the very room where Pappy was when they first put him in the rest home.

Really was a weird ride. Hope she is happy there these last months of her life. Okay, Marty, don't cry!