Phone Calls.

 Phone Calls.

 

Was just thinking this morning that my phone hardly ever gets a workout—not even a car’s warranty about to expire any longer! Then got in the shower and the silly phone rang. Was towel drying my hair and looked at the phone. Thought it might possibly be a reminder about the appointment tomorrow, so called the number back. It was Sutherland’s number and a sweet young lady by the name of Lisa. She told me that my name came up as winner of a hundred-dollar gift card. So, it paid to call them back! Went over and signed the papers to say they could see my SS number if it went any further along in the contest. That probably won’t happen, but it was nice to put that gift card in my bag. That will buy a few bags of chicken feed! Will wonders ever cease!

 

The neighbor across the street has had several trucks over there today. No one is on top of the house, so we can hope the new roof is not leaking. That would be just about enough to get a person hot under the collar! And they really do seem to be a nice couple. He did tell me the other day that the lights are on in Suzanne Priddy’s house at night and a car is parked out front, so maybe it was her significant other who died instead of her. Would not have known what name to look for in the death notices. Hanan called the guy Santa Claus and Donny Anderson had another name for him. Don’t think the guy impressed them overly much, ya see.

 

Went down and exercised the littles this morning. Even though the wind was a bit brisk, the temperature was nice. And those silly dogs took off like something was on their tails! They wanted to run! Funny critters. Patty enjoyed the visit, too. She was wound up wanting to tell me a few things, so it was a good day for listening. Then the postman and the UPS trucks came and the dogs had to go inside. Told her the UPS man was going to leave something on my porch and left her place. It is good exercise just walking down there—and that’s not counting if the dogs have to be rounded up from going too close to the brush near the lake line. Bobcats and coyotes have a tendency to crouch down in the reeds and brush. They are sneaky, and those dogs would just be a good brunch for them.

 

Talked to Sharon Dickerson today. Had sent her a couple of photos that were in that mess that Erin dropped off at my house. One was of her husband when he was a kid in school, and the other was of some of the family at a Dickerson reunion in Nocona. We were all a lot younger back then. Sue, Glen’s wife, was so pretty. Haven’t seen her in years, but it is easy to see why Glen thought she was beautiful. But, of course, we all look a bit better when we are younger and able to smile without gritting our teeth! Some days that gets harder to do as we age.

 

Sharon was telling about mending a king-sized quilt for an older man. No one has any idea of how difficult mending can be as opposed to just sewing something. Sitting here laughing to myself about the pair of pants Cindy wore to the house recently. She does things a lot like this old woman. Mend those suckers with a piece of denim and make it obvious that mending has been done. A man brought me his Levi jacket once and wanted it mended. It took me two days to resew and stitch the collar and the back shoulders. Then he brought me a pair of Levi’s that had the rear end busted out of them. Gleefully, those made me laugh for a few days as the patches turned into hands across the back pockets. Oh yes! He was one of those guys. He never asked me to mend anything else. Giggling.

 

Got a nice family and friends’ letter from my friend Robin Christian. She was telling about her son’s heart attack and how his friend insisted on taking him to the hospital in time to save his life. Then she talked about the valve that they replaced with a cow’s heart valve. She expects him to moo if he has any difficulties with it! Thought that was pretty funny, but at the same time it reminded me of an older woman who used to go to the seniors’ class at the gym with me. She had a heart valve from a pig. But she never offered to oik! Think she was just happy to be able to still get around somewhat with her daughter’s help.

 

This weather has definitely been Texan today. Right this red-warm minute it is only 78 degrees, but the ceiling fan is moving the air around so that it is fairly comfortable in the living room. Neither of the dogs has griped about anything and the hens seem happy, so unless it turns into a cold front next week, we will probably stay comfortable. It may rain, but that’s ok, too. Have looked at the grass and stuff growing over the yard, but nothing needs tending at the moment. It may grow up a jungle sometime this spring, but for now it just looks decent.

 

Put on a chunk of pork that they call a pork butt, but have no idea why they call it a butt when it actually says it is a shoulder. Go figure. Anyway, it is going to need to cook for a few hours at low temps. Tomorrow it will probably make some good barbecue or something like that. At least right now that is what is on my mind.

 

My computer has a word puzzle program on it that requires that the letters in the block of assorted letters cannot be separated by a space. So, finding the three or four words to fit the spaces may be relatively easy, but then pulling the letters into the blocks while avoiding leaving a space can be a teeny bit frustrating. A bit ago the word heron just did not want to work when it was obvious the letters were going to have to spell that word. It took four tries to finally get all four words in the correct order. It really is nice to have an understanding of which critters need to be considered animals, but the puzzle makers probably enjoyed every minute of making that puzzle harder to place in the correct position. Yep, devious!

 

My oldest child likes puzzles, too. He likes that number thing called sudoku or whatever. He finally got me interested, and the ideas finally made sense to me. It is a game of common sense in one way—whatever won’t work in any one square in not the only consideration. Deduction and our friend the detective Sherlock Holmes work together well. This may be the reason that mysteries appeal to me so much. Hmm.

 

Have really been enjoying the Reader’s Digest large print books that came recently. It occurs to me that they are very biased, but at least the jokes and critter stories are good. It made me think about what Elon Musk has been saying about how Twitter and other sources of social media have been trying all along to sway or lead the American ideas of what is actually going on. It seems that Hunter Biden and his dad were hand in hand in doing more to influence our position on Russia and other foreign powers than anyone in years. Well, duh. Think that is what we suspected all along. And, of course, no one wanted anything to come of the infamous laptop left by Hunter to be “repaired” by a guy who turned it over. It makes me feel like we have just one more case of perversion of justice. Only this time no one had an accidental suicide in a “high security” jail. Shaking my head here.

 

My children really do not want to hear or read anything about my political or religious views. Doesn’t keep me from expressing them, but such is life when the kids think that the old woman has lost it because her opinion does not exactly line up with theirs. Now that they have children of their own who have been making some of their own decisions, it makes me wonder how long it will be before THEY are the ones who are slightly “lost” on the social front. Guess what goes around will eventually make its way back around. And then what? Common sense may have a new definition someday.

 

Let us remember that this nation was especially blessed by God. No other nation has had the Hand of God on its leaders the way this nation did in its past. Even King George said that Washington giving up his command of the armies and leaving the office of president would make him the greatest man who ever lived. And so, God blessed him and the nation he led. Despite the horrible mistakes and injuries to other people—the Indians, the Blacks, the Asians, and others—America is still seen as the best of opportunities available. Let us remember that God gave us those blessings and opportunities.

 

Pray for peace. Rest assured in God’s grace. You are loved.