THINGS CHANGE......

That is really me.......If I feel like wearing a bra I do.......If I don't .....I don't!.......Right now my poor face looks like a piece of raw meat......I should stay hidden for six weeks......but I could be dead by then.....so off to the store I go......Take me or leave me, I probably will never see most of you again......and if I DO......I really don't have leprosy.....just bad reaction to my face treatment......All the fun Spring things are coming out in the stores......and you know me.

I was going to go and see "THE WALL" with Rob tonight but he found out he was having some furniture being delivered so canceled......which was OK with me as I look so awful.  Today being the last day of February I need to get on my bills.........When they say March....I think of daffodils and Spring close by.  I am so ready......it snowed yesterday and more forecast. Be patient Betty!  Took the Hills some goodies today for snow blowing my sidewalk and drive way.......wish I was a cookie maker, but I don't think it is going to happen in this life time.......DID YOU KNOW?  A study found the DUTCH  the best-rested folks in the world.....clocking about eight hours and 12 minutes  of sleep rewires neurons that process emotions, triggering a 60% jump in anxiety and negative thoughts after one sleepless night.......This should start before 11:00 pm......

CAN'T GO BACK.......

When one's lived many years, the past becomes an attic:  One goes there hunting some particular thing and finds everything except what one went to find.........

I used to dread getting older, because I thought I wouldn't be able to do the things I waned to do.......But now that I'm older, I find I don't want to do them?????

DO NOT DEPRIVE ME OF MY AGE......I HAVE EARNED IT!

Do you realize that your Life is a party......you join after it's started and you leave before it's finished.

Another snowy day......did make it to the store finally......and this is Ken's first day of Brain Change and he was not too happy about having Gram Kay pick him up after work and take him.....he went to dinner with her and is not home yet.  This will be a Monday and Wednesday occurrence.......and a new diet.....for the next six months.  Waiting for Bray to drop by with Ken's new shoes.  Three more weeks of this dumb eye problem and my face is a mess with the dermatologist new program.  I  aknow........this too will pass.

Oh how often I wish I had the power to turn back the clock and

Be at that  big white house at the end of the block!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX........

My second grandson Alex Christenson, turns 24 ........I love the top picture because of that smile......from day one it has melted my heart.  The big Happy Birthday is Al on his snow mobile rocking it!  He loves the snow and we have plenty of it this winter.....nice fluffy snow you can fly in.
      Sherrie ran by a minute to drop Ken off then head out to Vernal to have a birthday party for him. No one made it to church today......I look to scary to go anywhere, and my face is so sore.....It is very cold outside today.......I guess it is still winter and I am just to anxious for Spring......two more days of February......better start thinking about income tax time!!!!!

LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE......

 As we slide from situation to situation in our lives.......let me tell you they can become a real adventure.......maybe not to some......but my latest adventure is a detached retina and the dermatologist has given me a tube of stuff to put on my face every day for 6 weeks to get rid of the pre-cancerous cells......and boy is it working!  My face is bright red, and sore and I have just begun....I am afraid to go anywhere as they may think I have leprosy.......and I don't have to put on a bra or lip stick either......by staying home! 

I did break down and color my hair today and did three batches of laundry and I'm not leaving the house.......no church tomorrow.  The boys are at the cabin this weekend with their parents as the snow is heaven for snow mobiling this year....no drough for us.

YESTERDAY......Sherrie and I got checked out on how to go through this BRAIN CHANGE program that Grandma Kay insisted upon......I can tell Ken is not for it and I can't see how it will help his speech, they seem to be trying to make his left side more dominant as his right side by exercise and food?   TIME WILL TELL!  It puts a lot of extra pressure on me......but off to a new adventure!

I am so looking forward to Spring and warmer weather.....and so are my knees......

"LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE, NOT A PACKAGE TOUR"  Echart Tolle

WHAT'S ON MY MIND???

When you get old, then older and all most oldest........you have lots of time to sit around and think of the wonderful things that have happened in your life......or not!

But we should never stop discovering our self......Go on adventures like to Mike's Medical Shop.....so many great things you never even heard of to cure things you didn't know existed, then there is Hobby Lobby and Home Goods, great and beautiful things for the yard and house.......that you have no room for.  I can even spend an hour at Home Depot, just looking at flowers, paint colors, read their house remodeling books and get a bag of free pop corn......find a cute coffee shop and people watch or leave a note in a library book.....and oh yes, there is always the thrift shops with the treasures of dead people or those who moved and cleaned house.

"FILL YOUR LIFE WITH ADVENTURE, NOT THINGS.  HAVE STORIES TO TELL, NOT STUFF TO SHOW."

"BETTER TO SEE SOMETHING ONCE....THAN HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES."

"IN THE WAYS OF CHANGE WE FIND OUR DIRECTION"

"TO MOVE , TO BREATH, TO FLY, TO FLOAT, TO ROAM THE ROADS OF LANDS REMOTE, TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE."  Hans Christian Anderson

"OF ALL THE BOOKS IN THE WORLD, THE BEST STORIES ARE FOUND BETWEEN THE PAGES OF A PASSPORT."

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN......

Yesterday was a sad day for the family........our darling Marley died.  He really was a "lover"......you had to love Marley he badgered you until you did.   I am sure the Cook family are very sad!.......He was really Karrie's baby.  I remember the Christmas Eve she came up the stairs in my other place with this great big puppy hanging in her arms and she and Annie spent the evening holding him.

He and their other dog Izzy always slept on the bed with them.......and it sometimes ended in a struggle when I baby sat and slept over to convince Mar Mar he was not the Alpha Dog when I was there!!!

Marley loved to chase the flash light on the floor and wall......he was sure he could catch it.....The Cook's lived on the 9th hole of the Willow Creek Country Club ......so have a very large back yard for the dogs to play catch in......he would chase the ball as long as you would throw it.  So many fun memories of that big loveable dog......He has many dog cousins in Heaven with him.

THE POWER OF LETTER......

  

Been a busy day......Patty came for coffee this morning, then after lunch off to the credit union and to the bank, then to grocery shop.....the wind is fierce today although it is 60 degrees.  Stopped and got the mail and it started me thinking....how sad it is that my grandchildren will never know the"power of a letter".........now with skypeing, texting, tweeting etc.......taking a pen or pencil to paper seems like a lost art......and a stamp is almost 50 cents.....compared my day when they were 3 cents.....Letter writing was big when I was growing up........letters from boy friends, letters from your parents when you went away to college and got married and letters from siblings or friends.  The simple art of the anticipations of getting a letter......opening the envelope and unfolding the pages with their magic words filled you with excitement......someone cared, someone thought about you......mail was the magic cord that connected you across the distance........And, when the last words have been read, we can refold the pages and tuck hem away for another day to read and reread.  Although the paper may yellow and edges may fray, a letter will always be timeless  It is still a comfort to read the letters I got and have kept from my mother and father.  I do get a quick line or two of thank you gram from the grandkids and kids......somehow it is not the same, although I really look forward to them with the same anticipation!

Almost 5 weeks since my eye was operated on and a little over 3 more weeks till the gas bubble dissolves and hopefully I can see again.....

GRANDPARENTS.....

     This is grandma and grandpa Goff and can't you just see her in the kitchen below making magic  out of very little.......while she sang a church hym to herself.......she was a Mormon convert and very religious.  I never saw bit of her skin but arms and head.  One day I walked by her house on my way to town, wearing a pair of shorts.  She saw me go by and immediately called my Mom.....we lived a block down the street....."Hazel I just saw Betty Ree go by half-necked."  Mom replied, "gosh Mom when she left here she was wearing a nice pair of shorts and a shirt?I loved my grandparents dearly.          

NOT SO LONG AGO......

      Not so  long go this could have been me........or my mother.......but it definitely was my grandma!
I recognize the syrup pitcher, the rot iron skillet, the coffee pot setting on the warming tray of the stove, looks like potatoes (we ate a lot of them)........ a pot of beans (we ate a lot of them).......grandma would be wearing an apron, had a pocket for her....."hankie".....don't think they had Kleenex when I  grew up.....nice black comfortable grandma shoes and no doubt long cotton socks held up with a garter around the knee!  She loved her kitchen and made the best bread in the neighborhood.  The clock on top was her timer.....Oh and the awful wall paper!!!!!Everyone had wall paper.
     I grew up with a wood stove similar to the one in the picture......it heated part of our house, cooked our meals and had a hot water tank behind it that heated our water for dishes and baths!......it had to be constantly feed with wood or coal.....which we children brought in from the coal shed!
Did we complain.....some, but were thankful for it's magic.

MY ANGELS........

I HOPE the PRESIDENT realizes he has a guarding angel and listens to him.......because the mess our country is in, he needs some REAL help.
    Stress makes you believe that every thing has to happen..... RIGHT NOW!   Faith assures  you  that everything will happen in God's timing......Trump has four years to prove to the country he is on the right path with good ideas....just give him a chance.  I have faith he beat Hilary with some help from above and that God has a plan for us......and Trump will listen and make things better.
      My sister and her group should be tooling along somewhere in Texas heading for home in Nevada sometime tomorrow......I hope they had a nice cruise and I have missed our phone calls this week.

COMING OR GOING?

A RAINY GLOOMY DAY.......the kind that leaves you not knowing whether it is worth getting dressed for..........The kids in Vernal for Presidents Day, the Panniers in Reno......and I don't need anything bad enough to go out in the rain.....tending Bree for the weekend.

I have always loved pictures of a road......who will be coming up it?  If i go down it where will I end up?  Maybe it's the mystery I love.

Is it more fun to wander through life in, out, up and down or have a straight road from birth to heaven.......or not!  I certainly feel I have had many ups and downs.  Interesting peaks into strange countries and different people......I have tried never to leave the road.......staying on the road to God. I had a good family, education been married for 30 years and divorced for 30 years, i have children and grandchildren and a great-grandchild........traveled the world, had good health and many friends.

I am just a gypsie wandering my way through life......to arrive at God's door someday.

PEOPLE I ADMIRE.......

These two women were not born to automatically be where their paths in life led them......but they made women proud in representing us women.\

Diana had much to contend with ......the Queen, Charles and the press, but she was the mother of a future King and her children loved her very much......as did the whole world.

Ivana is the First Lady of the United States because her husband was elected president, but first she is a mother and a wife......and a real lady. Things were.......are......not easy for these two.....but you cannot keep a good women down!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY.......

Seems we wake up every morning with all the bad things in our life on our mind instead of starting the day with what we are thankful for..........

Take a look at this list.......did you realize that there are so many wonderful blessings we get every day that do not cost anything???  We could write a book about each of the things above that we enjoy everyday of our life.......Maybe not all our family loves us, maybe not every night we get our 8 hours of sleep and maybe we have lost a few friends along the way.......but no ones life is perfect!

Other things that make me happy are:    I love warm weather, being outside in the sunshine and fresh air, I love to travel and learn about new places, people and food, I enjoy good books and art and especially fun photography, a cup of coffee with a good friend and photo books full of memories.

These wonderful blessings come at any age in our life and should be fitted into our daily schedule. tso many of these things are free.

IT'S MAGIC........

One of my best friends just left after a couple of hours of settling the world's problems and each others over a cup of coffee and a  doughnut........ and she did make the comment.......My back even feels better now..... Thankgoodness for Patty.......Oh, and coffee.

Beautiful day, forecast up to fifty degrees today.......I think Spring is just around the corner.  I have been getting ready for my Dominoes Group tomorrow......then caught up with my entertaining for awhile.  I should get out today and walk or go do some Retail Therapy to get some exercise, but just can't get going today.  Had a nice Valentine's day roses and a scarf from the Christensons and the Panniers brought over chocolate strawberries and Ken brought us home chicken pot pies from the Navuoo Cafe for dinner......great roomy.  Families can be such treasures......

You can have treasures beyond measure!  To be rich, you don't have to hit the jackpot, work your way up any ladder or luck out with a surprise windfall, because joy isn't something you can win, earn or buy......It is already yours waiting to be discovered each and every day......Today my joy was having a good friend stop by, seeing the birds are starting to return from their winter in warm weather, having the sun shine and see the temperature rising to 50 degrees.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY........

HERE AGAIN.......AND SO SOON.  Three years ago today the Panniers moved into their new home......They had been with me on Madrid Street six months and were so excited.
     At my age.....it is kinda just another day........no sweetheart to wish my love to......kids all busy with their families.  But, I do have fun memories of growing up and making Valentine boxes and if a boy gave you a valentine with the word LOVE on it......that was a thrill.  Then on down the line in my life with three girls we also had fun putting valentine boxes together and counting how many valentines they got.
     Ken is living with me so I gave him a shirt, card and some of his favorite gummy bears.....he wore his new shirt today but at 18......he is kinda not to interested in celebrating.
    You can say Happy Valentines Day, but every day you should be happy.....and there are so many kinds of happy to be!  From the contentment of sharing even ordinary moments with a special someone, to the satisfaction of a job well done, to the joy of unexpected blessings, dreams taking shape or wishes coming true and everything in between, life brings us so many reasons to have a happy day!

QUIET SUNDAY AFTERNOON.......

As I sit in my cozy little bungalow this Sunday evening in peace and quiet.......my little sister and about 50 of her kids, grandkids, use to be in-laws, their in-laws and friends and probably a few un-noticed out-laws are embarking on a week's cruise in Texas........it was suppose to be to celebrate for a wedding of one of her grandkids.......which got married at the jutice of the peace before she ever left for the cruise.......figure that!!!!  When I talked to her last......she had woke up at three, was out delivering papers for Dukane, and still had to go clean his house and pack before they could drive two days to Houston to get on the ship.........Admittingly, she is 11 years younger  than I am, but still 74........isn't 29 when nothing stopped us.  Saw the picture on facebook with all of them in their pretty blue shirts, but I kinda bet before the weeks up there will be a few who pack up their shirts and pretend they aren't part of that group!

How can two sisters be so different?????   I don't do big groups of relatives, from day one I never enjoyed the big holiday get-to-gathers at grandma Goffs. I try to avoid family reunions,  I love my family but just a few at a time.....Leslie wouldn't miss one......I hope they don't wear her out as I only have one sister left and I need her.....hurry home Les and Philip, Mike and I wish you the best!

IT IS.....WHAT IT IS!

THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CASTLE THERE IS......I THINK.  IT IS IN FUSSON GERMANY AND THE CASTLE IN DISNEY LAND WAS COPIED FROM IT.   I HAVE BEEN THERE THREE TIMES, BUT NEVER SEEN IT IN THE SNOW......WE CAN DREAM OF LIVING LIKE THIS........OR NOT!  I AM JUST THRILLED I WAS THERE BUT HAPPY IN MY LITTLE PLACE NOW.   I AM SORRY I NO LONGER FEEL LIKE TRAVELING, BUT THANKFUL I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY.......AND REALLY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT.  TODAY I AM THREE WEEKS INTO A DETACHED RETINA, MY KNEES HURT AND MY FACE DOCTOR JUST STARTED ME ON A SIX WEEK PROGRAM OF PRE-CANCEROUS TREATMENT ......WHICH I HAVE BEEN  WARNED TURNS YOUR FACE INTO RAW MEAT!!!! LUCILLE HAS BEEN THROUGH IT......OH WELL, IT IS WHAT IT IS.....AND ONLY KEN WILL SEE ME.......AND I HOPE IT WILL BE WORTH IT.   I AM ALSO FACING BIRTHDAY NUMBER 85.....BUT THANKFUL FOR EVERY DAY.

MIKE AND ANDREA ARE DROPPING BY TONIGHT.......KEN WENT TO VERNAL FOR THE WEEKEND......DID GET LAUNDRY AND SHOPPING DONE.

MOVING FORWARD........

IF I COULD ONLY CONVINCE THE MANY UNHAPPY PEOPLE OUT THERE.......THAT, WHAT IS DONE IS DONE AND WHAT IS GONE IS GONE.......ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE LESSONS IS LEARNING HOW TO LET GO AND MOVE ON.....LOOKING BACK AT YOUR GOOD MEMORIES IS FINE, BUT NEVER LET THE PAST STOP YOU FROM MOVING FORWARD........

FOR ME NOW THESE MANY YEARS AFTER MY DIVORCE......I HAVE NO DESIRE TO PLAY THE GAME OF BEING BETTER THAN ANYONE.    I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO BE BETTER THAN THE PERSON I WAS YESTERDAY.......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT......

Well it was bridge day which fell on Pat.s birthday so I went all out.......Well not really but decided to step out of the box with my bridge group.  I told them to come in their levies, tennies , jog suits or what ever they wore all day.......THEY joined in the fun.  Ken and I went shopping to Good Will and Savers for a set of dishes and glass wear that did not match....plastic table cloth, paper roses center piece.........the favors were plastic shower caps for left-overs , from the dollar store.....knapkins were wash cloths..had an open bar.....which they loved and served french dip sandwitches from Costco.......all the silver serving pieces etc. were from the dollar store.....when you have a party, you got to hit the dollar store......anyway it turned into a big success.  I had to promise I would not tell anyone that it was Pat's birthday.......so only she and I knew we were having a birthday party....but the others really celebrated it!

Pat and her husband David have been some of the few that remained loyal after our divorce......they never took sides and loved both Don and I till this day......Real friends do that!

Bottom line.......today I am pooped and took two naps.....but no more parties here for a year.

SUPER B OWL PERKS

Every Mother's dream to have all her kids gathered around her and safe......and speaking to each other.  Here Sherrie sets with Greg, Brayden , Ken , Alex and grand-dog .....big red for the super bowl game 2017.......I understand she slept through the last quarter where the blue team won in over time, but our family never was a foot-ball family growing up!

I also love these boys more than anyone knows and am lucky to see Bray and Ken regularly......Ken lives with me and Bray does laundry every week.....

What a lucky Gram......thank you Sher.

MESSAGE TO NEW PRES......

Just thinking now might be a good time to ask the government to think of the women ......in all their new fence ideas, cutting taxes, getting rid of Obama Care etc.  Maybe we should go to Trumps daughter.......

If the government really wanted to do something nice for woman......as they hit menopause the government would send them a gift basket containing things like:......chocolate, wine , PJ's a DO NOT DISTURB sign, Vodka, free replacement glasses for life, a pet, free Netflix for life,free coffee, a landline to find your cell phone and a volunteer teenager to help with your computer. well the list is long and I could go on, but I am sure that once you start over the hill those men in charge could care less about the Mothers, Grandmothers, Sisters , Daughters etc. and their problems

There are three solutions to every problem, Accept it.....Change it..... or leave it.  If you can't accept it, change it....If you can't change it.....leave it!

THINK OF OUR PERKS........

Maybe it just comes with living a long time......but I try to smile and say "GOOD" when people ask me how I am......knowing full well I'm crumbling inside......so you smile and go on.

Just thinking of some of the good things old people have to be thankful for.......kidnappers aren't very interested in you......No one expects you to RUN anywhere......there is nothing to learn the hard way any more........things you buy now, won't wear out.......you can live without sex, but you can't live without glasses......people no longer view you as a hypochrondriac.......people call you at 8 pm and ask you if they woke you up.......and they usually have.......thoughtful people write in big letters so you can read it......And Oh.......remember never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative the same night!

Went to the Dermetaligist today and he wants me to use some kind of cream every day to take care of all my pre-cancer things......warned me I will turn into raw meat....won't I be great.....can't see out of one eye and now that.....guess i will hibernate the rest of the winter and just get it all over with.

Fifty degrees today but have a fierce wind blowing.

MADE IT THROUGH JANUARY......

This cold weather really plays havoc with my arthritis.......but i am hanging in  there.....I still have some of my hair, some of my own teeth and haven't peed my pants since i was little.......anything to make you smile.

Missed  ground-hog day but sad to hear Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow that day and we are in for six more weeks of winter.......Today is a balmy 47 degree and we are loving it.....but a new storm for our area is forecast.   Ken is going to Vernal for church this weekend and I am going to get ready for Bridge on Wednesday......went in to the see the doctor yesterday about my eye and he said it looked good.....still have 6 weeks of trying to see while the gas bubble disintegrates!!!!!

I just tell myself to appreciate all that I have.  To let me see the little thing in each day that make me happy .......(like my naps and phone calls to family)......I try to give thanks to all the blessings, the challenges and the celebrations for they have made me who I am and what my life is.