Starry night on the prairie

I went to Florence to meet a couple for lunch today. There was road construction just before I got to Florence. Four miles of one-way traffic. Held me up for a bit.

Had the most delightful conversation. I met this couple through Love in Action. She makes the patches that she sold at a rally as a fundraiser for Love in Action. We have a lot in common and conversation was fast and easy. So fun to talk to other like-minded people and be able to go deep!

Came home and rested for a bit. Kathy had picked up some virus on her phone and was really frustrated. Her phone was starting to overheat when she used it so we decided it was time to get it replaced before it started a fire.

Went to the Verizon store in Emporia. I asked for the grandson of a person I know. He was efficient and helpful. I wanted to add Kathy’s phone to my service. He said he couldn’t do that but put in a call to someone and said they would call back within 30 minutes. We decided to head home.

We got just outside Emporia when they called. The lady that called talked faster than my ears could listen. I had to ask her to slow down. She kept rattling on and finally took a breath so I could tell her to start over and go slowly.

She got confused quickly. Told us my phone had a transfer request on it and she couldn’t do anything. She was trying to transfer my phone to Kathy’s line. We must have told her ten times she had it backwards. She finally figured out what we wanted and then said she couldn’t help us. She needed to talk to the guy at the phone store. WTF?

Luckily I had pulled over while we were talking to her. We turned around and headed back to the Verizon store. Kathy misunderstood and hung up on the lady. Oops.

We got back to the store and told the guy what was happening. He managed to figure out a way to do the transfer at the store without talking to the lady. Not sure why he couldn’t do that to start but oh well.

We got that done and then we each got new phones – free but for a price! It was going to take 30 – 45 minutes for the data to be transferred. We went to Braum’s and got an ice cream treat. Then I filled my car up with gas and went to the bank to get some cash for the weekend.

We went back to Verizon and the transfer was all but done. The guy made sure both phones had transferred the most important stuff and finished us up. Over $400 and three hours of our time we were done and headed home. We had to get new Otter boxes and screen saver covers. He said my first phone bill will be high as we have to pay connecting charges, sales tax, etc. etc.

I’m glad I went with Kathy as I am not sure she could have navigated all that herself. She definitely needed a new phone. I could have waited but I either had to get it now or take a chance that they would have a deal later.

It will take us a day or two to figure out all the new things on the new phone. The older I get the harder change is. We talked about Kathy getting an Apple phone but decided it would be easier for her to stick with her Samsung as that is what she has always had. I don’t know how to work her phone so can’t help her much but I think it would have been very hard for Kathy to learn a new phone system.

Tomorrow some friends are coming over to share their Camino adventure with me. They walked a much shorter version of it than I did and I am anxious to hear about their journey. No plans for Wednesday or Thursday. Since I got my errands taken care of today I may not need to go to Emporia again this week. Friday I am going out of town for the weekend and will be back Sunday early evening.

Got a donation for Love in Action in the mail today. We are getting closer and closer to reaching our $1,000 goal. We have less than $200 to go to reach the goal.

Dealing with big corporations is hard! I don’t think customer service is a priority these days. The girl we were working with over the phone didn’t know how to listen. Not sure why he was able to help us the second time but not the first time. When the lady called us we were put on hold for three minutes waiting for her to come on the line. Guess our time is expendable and their time is valuable. Hoping that I don’t have to interact with them again for a bit.

I asked the lady that I met with today if she was running Love in Action what she would do differently. She said nothing. She worked in the prison system for most of her nursing career and understands the system better than most. It was reassuring to hear her say nothing. We talked about how others can’t or won’t understand what we are up against when dealing with the prison culture. I need to remember to let it go when I run into someone that challenges me on it.

Grateful for friends made through Love in Action, grateful the phone deal is done, and grateful I don’t have to deal with big corporations most days.

I slept lots last night. Got up this morning around 8:30 and still felt a bit tired. Around 9:30 I went back to bed and slept two more hours. Finally feel rested although I am getting sleepy this evening. Wonder what my life would be like if I slept 8 hours every night?

Phil came over at 1:00 and hung the light fixture above the kitchen sink, two carbon monoxide detectors and two smoke detectors. It is good to have all those things done. I appreciate him.

Haven’t done anything today. I really do like productive days better but I don’t have much to do right now. I have a call or two I need to make tomorrow and I am meeting some friends for lunch in Florence. Maybe tomorrow will feel more productive.

Tuesday some friends are coming over in the afternoon to share their Camino adventure with me. No plans for Wednesday or Thursday. Friday I am going away for the weekend and will be back home Sunday late afternoon.

Hoping I can get a PayPal Charity acount set up this week. I wouldn’t bet on it though. It seems to be harder than I expected and I can’t seem to break through. Wonder what the lesson is in this for me?

Feeling a bit disconnected and ungrounded this evening. The empty space got to me today. Funny how some days it is easy and other days uncomfortable.

Grateful for lots of sleep last night and even more this morning, grateful Phil got my honey do list taken care of, and grateful I get to meet with friends twice this week.

I am still in my pajamas so obviously didn’t make it to the singing event today. I didn’t fall asleep until after 6:00 this morning. Slept hard for a few hours and never did wake all the way up. It has been cloudy all day and it was a good day t declare a pajama day and do nothing (again) day.

During the night I attempted again to hook up PayPal for Love in Action. It recognized that it is now a nonprofit but would not let me link my bank account. I kept getting an error message that said I had too many accounts linked to that bank account.

I finally remembered that VENMO is part of PayPal and I have my VENMO account linked to the Love in Action bank account as well as my personal bank account.

I deleted the VENMO link to the LIA bank account but am still getting the error message. I will wait till Monday to try again as maybe it needs to clear their system somehow.

These types of things drive me to drink – maybe it is a good thing I don’t drink. I find them so frustrating. I attempted to use the chat help but it sent me in the same circle I had already circled several times.

If I can’t figure it out Monday I will have to find a phone number and call for some help. I would rather stay with VENMO as it doesn’t take any fees but I need to have separate accounts so funds don’t commingle with my personal funds. And technically nonprofits are not allowed to use VENMO due to the reporting requirements of a nonprofit. VENMO doesn’t give you the mailing address of the donor like PayPal does. Not sure why I find this so hard.

We have received $636 of the $1,000 goal for our summer holiday project. I have enough for the Father’s Day and Juneteenth events so will check in with the Center Monday and give them the funds for those two projects. I still have a couple of weeks before they need the funds for the July 4th project.

Nothing on my calendar for tomorrow. Maybe the goal of the day will be to get dressed. Sounds like an optimistic goal though! Monday I am meeting some friends for lunch in Florence and Tuesday some friends are coming for a visit in the afternoon. Friday through Sunday I will go away for a soul filled weekend away.

I am still reading the book Theo in Golden. It is the best book I have read in a long time. I am reading it slowing as I find it so rich that I don’t want to speed read through it. I will probably reread it when I am done. It is the type of book that I will probably order 10 copies to have on hand to give friends. We need more books like this in the world today. It is about the impact one person can do when they do acts of kindness and the ripple effects of those acts.

A line from the book that I am sitting with. “The older I get, the more convinced I am that every hurt the world has ever known is somehow the fault of every person who ever lived. Maybe not directly and never entirely, but somehow, I fear, we own all of the world’s hurts together.” Would we act differently if we believed this? People act out because of their inner pain. I wonder how many people I have hurt that then act out because of their inner pain that I caused? Multiple that by billions of people and that quote begins to make sense.

There is a scene he writes about that has stuck with me too. A homeless person comes into the sanctuary of a church on Sunday morning bringing with her the bicycle that is her only security in her life. Many of the congregation call 911 for help. One of the saints of the church recognizes the lady and offers to have the homeless lady sit with her family. The homeless lady was looking for the main character in the book and he came and got her and took her to his pew. The preacher recognized that the congregation had just witnessed and participated in a sermon if they could only see it. His response to the congregation was “Let us be silent and pause to reflect before we have our morning prayer.”

The book is full of short stories within the main story and the impact kindness has on others when one takes the opportunity to really see another person.

Grateful for a pajama day, grateful for authors that write stories about the power of acts of kindness, and grateful we are over 60% to our goal for Love in Action.

A stay-at-home day. My favorite type of day. I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up and started laundry. Did a few other household chores, baked a pan of brownies, and did some bookkeeping. Around 8:00 I got tired so went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours. Sure was nice to get a second sleep.

Got the mail and someone sent two rolls of stamps for Love in Action. How nice is that? Donations for the Summer Holiday Project continue to come in. We are a little over halfway to our goal of $1,000. It hasn’t even been 48 hours yet!

Made a pan of creamed chicken and biscuits this afternoon. Kathy and I both enjoyed them. Have enough leftovers for another meal or two. Hard to make a small batch. Got the dishes done but still need to put them away.

Got my laundry finished, folded and put away. I always feel ridiculously proud of myself when I get all of it put away the same day I wash it. Not sure why that is a task I tend to procrastinate on but more times than not I do.

Wrote four thank you notes today – have one more to write. Did some bookkeeping for Love in Action. I try to keep good records and keep them updated frequently. I do a month-end report on the Love in Action Facebook page monthly and it helps if I keep up with recording donations as they come in.

Looked at my notary renewal information. I get overwhelmed a bit and have to put it in time-out and come back to it. I am still waiting for the surety bond place I used four years ago to contact me for a renewal. If I don’t hear from them by the end of June, I will pick another company and get it done. I have until August 1 to get the paperwork in. I struggle sometimes with how to attach the proper documents electronically to the application. Maybe I can do it this year and not have to mail it in.

Tomorrow I am going to the Singing our Resistance event at Goodway Gardens at 2:00. Elexa was so kind to come do the event I held earlier this year. I so enjoyed the music part of that event and want to go to another one.

Next week I have a lunch with some friends in Florence on Monday and then Friday to Sunday I am going away for the weekend. Both events will do my heart good. Sometimes I forget to feed my soul and I will take care of that next week with these two events.

My blood work showed good improvement from the bloodwork that was done while I was in ER last week. I haven’t heard from the new referral doctor in Wichita. Not sure how long it will take for them to call me and who knows how long the wait will be for an appointment. This saga continues….

Felt good to stay home today. My soul needs lots of quiet these days to refill. Making myself a home cooked meal helped too. I forget to do that most days. I feel more at peace this afternoon than I have for a bit.

Grateful for creamed chicken and biscuits, grateful for air conditioning, and grateful for a second sleep today.

Not much sleep last night. I wasn’t surprised as I took too long of a nap yesterday. Have felt tired and a beat behind all day.

I met a dear friend for lunch today. It did my soul good! I don’t think there is much more I love than having deep conversations with friends that are on the same path and vibration I am on.

Went to the nurse practitioner this afternoon. She was good although is new to my doctor’s practice. After we talked she had to go make sure the doctor agreed with her plan. They are going to refer me to a specialist in Wichita. We shall see how this goes. They did repeat my blood work and what has come back so far looks much better than it did in the ER a week ago.

Found out the person that called that wanted my birthday was legit. Evidently the doctor’s office has out sourced the follow up from ER visits to some company. I told the nurse I didn’t know anything about them so didn’t give them my birthday information. The nurse said she would have done the same thing.

Stopped at Walmart after I was done at the doctor’s office and picked up an on-line order I placed. I got four bags of dog food and four cases of water. It is so much easier having them pick it up in the store and then load it in my car. I will get it all unloaded sooner or later.

After Walmart I went through the drive-thru at McDonald’s to get some iced tea. Decided to get an ice cream cone. Bad idea! I pulled ahead out of the D/T lane and reached over to put my credit card back in my purse. When I did, the ice cream fell off the cone and into the car seat. What a mess. I didn’t have many napkins so had to improvise to get it kinda cleaned up. I had to quickly eat what I could. The ice cream was too soft and melted everywhere.

It rained hard on my way home but I made it safely. By the time I got home it had stopped raining.

Thinking tonight will be an early to bed type of night. I sure could fall asleep right now but then I would be up at midnight. I will force myself to stay up for another couple of hours and then hopefully will sleep all night.

Last night I posted I was going to set Love in Action aside for a bit. The Universe has a funny bone! Not an hour after I typed that, I got an email from the Sergeant that does the card and stamp program. She sent me ideas for Father’s Day, June 19th and July 4. We went back and forth for about an hour via email and finally decided on our plan.

I have the funds to cover the projects but it would leave me with little to no cash so decided to post a fundraising post. I am back in the thick of it with Love in Action on-line. So far, so good although I had one exchange last night that made me go ugh….. The poster must have deleted it as it isn’t showing today.

For Father’s Day we are going to offer a free 10 minute phone call that all Detainees can make to a person of their choice. June 19th we are going to have a special treat of M&M’s and a Coke, and July 4th the Center will serve chicken wings for one of the meals. I think the Detainees will appreciate all three events.

I have asked several times for phone calls and this is the first time they figured out how we can make that happen. Some of the Detainees don’t have commissary funds and this will be the first call they will be able to make. Some have been held a long time! I hope they can make good use of it.

Funds are coming in already. I don’t think it will take too long to reach our goal of $1,000. I will need to get busy writing and sending some thank you notes. People are so very generous and responsive to my requests for funds.

Declaring that I was letting go seemed to be all I needed. Love in Action has a different feel to me today and the pause I had is gone. Another lesson from the Universe about letting go.

No plans for tomorrow. I need a stay-at-home day. I haven’t had one this week. Saturday I have a singing our resistance event to go to in the afternoon if I can make myself go. Next week I am meeting some friends in Florence for lunch on Monday. I am free Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then am going away for the weekend.

Feeling back to my grounded self. My intuition seems to be back on-line and guiding me. I miss it when it goes on vacation without me! I’ll see how long I can maintain this vibration.

Grateful for a dear friend and her wisdom, grateful a plan was made to address my tummy issues, and grateful for the response to the plea for funds for Love in Action.

Got a text from Ellexia last night just before I went to bed. She wanted to go out to breakfast with me. We arranged I would pick her up at 9:30 this morning.

I forgot the highway between Cottonwood Falls and Strong City was closed and had to take the backroads to get to Highway 50. I managed to find my way without getting lost.

I picked up Ellexia and we went to Commercial Street Diner. We had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated. Neither of my two favorite waiters were there today. The place seemed to be missing a beat today. We finally got seated and put in our order. It took a bit to get our food but when we got it everything was hot and delicious.

We left there and then went and got a pedicure. We hit the place at the right time and they were able to take care of us right away. They had several people come in behind us and they told them to come back in 30 minutes. We both relaxed and enjoyed the pedicure. Ellexia has cheer camp next week and now her toes will be all pretty for it!

I took Ellexia home afterwards and then came home. I missed one turn on the back roads and had to turn around and back track a bit but I found my way home.

I came home exhausted so look a long afternoon nap. I may not sleep tonight but it felt good to take a long nap. Not sure why I was so tired but I was.

Nicole figured out a way to get more time off and is going to book us on a 16 day trip. That way we will get to go to Prague and see six different countries all together. That will give me something to look forward to. We will go late October or sometime in November.

Tomorrow I am meeting a dear friend for lunch and then I have a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. Friday I might be able to have a stay-at home day. Those have been scarce this week. Saturday I have a resistance musical event I may go to. Next week looks like a lot of empty space so far. That is how this week started so who knows what may come up.

Looking forward to my weekend away. Leaving the 12th and coming back home the 14th. A friend from energy healing school is hosting a day event at her home on that Saturday. She lives about an hour north of KC so will drive to a hotel close by her house on Friday, go to the retreat day on Saturday, spend the night at the hotel and then come home Sunday. She is also hosting a medium reading on Sunday in KC. I will probably go to that before I come home. It will do my soul good to get away for a weekend.

I need to replace my carry on bag before Nicole and I travel later this year. The bag I have I purchased to take on the Camino eleven years ago. It has many miles on it and the wheels have worn out and it is hard to push/pull. I think I got my money out of it and a new one will last me the rest of my traveling time. I have looked on-line to get one and get overwhelmed and can’t decide what I want. I think it may be one of those things that I need to shop for in person.

I am reading a book called Theo in Golden. I am really enjoying it and would recommend it. Not sure how it will end yet as I am only about half way through but it is a wonderful story about how one person can impact others through generosity. We need more stories like this one.

I have set aside Love in Action to give myself a short break. I was developing tunnel vision and needed to put it down for a short bit. Not sure how long this may last – probably until a new story drops in my lap. I need a bit of distance from it so when I pick it back up I remember what I love about it and not the downsides of it.

Putting myself out there on-line creates the opportunity for those that like to hide behind their screens to come out and play. I was taking the hits too personally which does no one any good. What I have gained from doing Love in Action is far greater than the hits I have taken but things felt out of balance. Putting it down for a short break will do my soul good.

Grateful for the time with Ellexia today, grateful for soft feet tonight, and grateful for a long nap today.

Woke up before 5:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Finally got out of bed at 6:30 and started my day. It was a long morning!

Went to Emporia and met Jason for lunch at 11:30. Lunchtime is always good when you get to eat with one of your kids.

After we were done eating I headed to Walmart. Stopped and took the car through the car wash and then went to Walmart.

While I was shopping I literally ran into a man shopping with his daughter like five different times. We were both polite and smiled but it was becoming weird. The sixth time it happened I stopped, put my hand out and said Hi, my name is Kay. We must be destined to meet today. He laughed and shook my hand and told me his name and his daughter’s name. We shared a moment and then moved on. I didn’t see them again!

I hadn’t bought groceries for a bit so it took me a while to get everything I needed. Other than the man and his daughter, the store didn’t feel too crowded and I was able to get all on my list. I got checked out and came home. Had to make several trips in to the house to get everything carried in.

Got things put away and then Nicole called. We talked for over an hour! I think we are going to Poland in November. We will stay in and around Poland for a couple of days and then take a river cruise on the Danube for seven nights. We may add a couple days at the end so we can see two other cities since we are in the area. It will depend on Nicole’s schedule and how much time she can get off. I have all the time we need so told her to make it fit her schedule.

She will decide in the next two days if that is where she wants to go and if so will get it booked. Sounds like an adventure to me! Sign me up!!!

I like the idea of touring for a couple of days and then cruising for a week. The hard part for me of tours is all the packing and unpacking. This will eliminate part of that. I have never done a river boat cruise so that will be a new experience. Nicole and Geoff had done one in China and had enjoyed it. She said it was casual and you don’t have to dress for dinner.

I took a chair nap this afternoon. My neighbor up the street knocked on the door and it woke me up. She is a quilter and had two different pieces of black material and wanted a second opinion to see if they matched perfectly. We decided they did. She has never come up before so it was a treat that she came over. We visited for a few minutes and then she was off to make her granddaughter a quilt. Lucky kiddo.

The above the kitchen sink light fixture I ordered came in today so I sent Phil a note and asked him to come over and hang it for me when he has some free time. I also have two carbon monoxide detectors and two smoke detectors that need hung. Phil is so good to me and usually comes over rather quickly. I expect sometime this week he will get that little job done for me. I’m lucky he lives so close.

No plans for tomorrow. Thursday I am meeting a friend for lunch and then going to a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. I may go to a music event Saturday afternoon if I can make myself go. It is a singing our resistance event. That type of resistance event I can get behind.

Wrote a few notes to our Pen Pals this morning. Some haven’t heard from their match for several weeks. I don’t want them to feel forgotten. A couple haven’t responded for a long time. Not sure if they decided to drop out of the program and didn’t tell us or if they aren’t in a position mentally to be able to answer right now. I don’t want to give up on them too easily but I also don’t want them to think we dropped them.

It is so hot and muggy out. I had trouble going to sleep last night. I finally got up and turned the thermostat down two degrees. That made it cool enough I could sleep with a blanket on and was able to fall asleep better. I need to remember to turn the thermostat down at night I guess. It would be too cold to leave it that cool during the day so I will have to adjust it twice a day. Maybe I need one of those fancy thermostats that do that for you automatically. I have had one before and never used it though.

Jason and Nicole both told me to set down what is bugging me and let it sit for a bit. I do feel lighter this evening since I did that. Maybe it isn’t mine to pick back up again? Thanks for the advice kids! I needed that reminder.

Grateful for my kids and the way they help me navigate life, grateful for the invitation to go cruising with my daughter, and grateful for a chair nap and a visit from my neighbor.

This has been another low energy day. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3:00 this morning. Woke up a little after 8:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep. I got up, got dressed and started laundry. I couldn’t find my on switch. Finally went back to bed and slept for another two hours.

Still have felt low energy today but at least the brain fog cleared up a bit. Got woke up with a phone call from some sort of medical service that supposedly works for my family doctor. I had never heard of them before. They wanted me to give them my birthday to continue the call. I do not give that type of personal information out over the phone unless I have called someone and know for sure who I am speaking with. They discontinued the call when I refused. Uhm…..

This afternoon my family doctor’s nurse called and scheduled me to see the NP this week as a follow-up to the ER visit last week. Not sure it is necessary but I would like to have the labs redrawn to make sure I have recovered fully. The white blood cell counts were all over the place when I was in the ER and I want to make sure there isn’t something behind all of this other than dehydration from the colonoscopy prep.

Jason and I are meeting for lunch tomorrow. I need to get some groceries so need to go to town. It will be good to meet up with Jason and have lunch and then I will go get what groceries I need.

Thursday I am having lunch with a friend and then will have the NP appointment at 3:30. I have not yet heard from the doctor’s office that was to do the colonoscopy. Beginning to think they won’t call. I will talk to the NP about it and see what she recommends.

I scheduled a weekend away for myself June 12, 13 and 14. A friend of mine is hosting a retreat of sorts on the 13th and invited me to join them. I will drive to a hotel the 12th, go to the day retreat and then back to the hotel for the night. Sunday my friend and her friends are doing a group reading early afternoon in KC. I will attend that and then come home. I think a weekend away is just what my soul needs. It has been a bit since I was with a small group that focused on the things I love to talk about.

Saw where June 27 is the next No Kings Rally. Not sure if I want to plan something or what I want to do that day. The big gathering is hard for me to go to as most of the people are protesting against something instead of advocating what they are for. Hard to be around that type of energy. Not sure I have it in me to organize something though. Maybe someone else will come up with the type of event I can attend.

Still sitting with Love in Action and trying to decide what I need to change. I think I need to find someone to take over the Pen Pal program. I am frustrated with it and am not sure what to do with that. People are not corresponding on a regular basis. They can let two or three weeks go by without sending a letter. That doesn’t sit right with me but not sure how to motivate them to do better. I won’t give those people another match when their match moves on. One of those programs that it would be easier if I just did it myself. I was trying to find something that others could get involved in.

Maybe I don’t play well on a team anymore? Maybe this program isn’t meant to be? Maybe I need to screen the volunteers better? Not sure what the solution is yet. I am attempting to let it sit for a bit and see if the solutions will come to me.

Grateful for a second sleep today, grateful I have the privilege to take days and not do anything, and grateful laundry got done today.

Kathy and I headed for Wichita this morning a little after 10:30. First stop was at Chipotle for lunch. We managed to hit it at the right time and there was no wait. By the time we ate and left, there was a long line.

We went to Costco. Parking was at the end of the row. That should have been my first clue that it was going to be crowded inside. After being home for most of last week I found Costco to be loud and way too many people for my liking today. I got what I needed and got out of there. I didn’t do much shopping to see what they might have that wasn’t on my list.

The drive today was beautiful. The sun was peeking out between the clouds and casting spotlights on the prairie. I love when it does that. The ponds are full and so are the ditches. Water, water everywhere.

We got the car unloaded when we got home and I haven’t done much since. Watched the Sound of Music. I haven’t watched that for a long time. Can’t believe it came out in 1965. I remember my Aunt Marylyn taking me to see it when I spent some time with her family. We didn’t ever get to go to indoor movie places so it was a special treat.

No plans for this week except for lunch with a dear friend on Thursday. I probably should go to town one of these days and get some groceries. Maybe I can meet up with Jason for lunch and do two things in one trip to town.

Thinking about putting together a questionnaire of sorts for Love in Action. I need to find out what is working and what I can change. I realized today part of my feeling comes from all the repetition I have to do. Wondering if it is necessary. When I make a post I seem to get the same questions over and over. If I add fundraising information it feels like that takes away from the heart of the post. Yet when I don’t add it, the first comment will be about fundraising.

People don’t seem to go to the Love in Action page to find that information, or if they do they can’t find it. I need to change something or I am going to get too frustrated with it.

Can’t believe it has been almost a full year of doing this. I started Love in Action last July. I never dreamed it would turn into what it has become. Wonder what is ahead?

Grateful the Costco run got accomplished, grateful for the beauty of the hills, and grateful for a quiet day tomorrow.

Happy birthday to my youngest Nicole. She is my travel buddy and one of my best friends. I love to spend time with her. She does my soul good. I am so grateful she chose me to be her mother.

Rainy day on the prairie today. Thought about the bike riders and the rodeo people today. We have a couple more rounds coming in this evening and one of them looks like we need to put our seat belts on. We have a nice pond in the yard from all the rain we got today.

I didn’t do much today. I woke up early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep but never felt like I woke all the way up. Took a chair nap late morning but never did wake up all the way.

My tummy didn’t feel good today. After I ate breakfast of eggs and toast about an hour or so later I felt as full as if I had eaten a huge Thanksgiving feast. That lasted for several hours. Sure wish I knew why I did that and what I could do to stop it. I really need to decide what to do about a gastro doctor and get an appointment made. Not sure I trust the office that ordered the colonoscopy. They never have reached out about the results of the MRI I had done early May.

I posted the month end report for Love in Action today. A day early but close enough.

Kathy and I may go to Costco tomorrow if the weather looks OK. I have a couple things I need and I need to get out of the house. I don’t want to go to Emporia with all the bikers still in town.

Not much on my calendar for next week. I am meeting a dear friend for lunch on Thursday. That will give me something to look forward to all week.

Thinking about asking a few of the Love in Action supporters to meet with me. I am missing something but can’t put my finger on what it is. Maybe if I ask a few for what they would do differently if they were running the program I can figure it out. I have lots of free time and could drive to meet them for lunch or we could do phone chats.

Kathy and I both need to upgrade our phones. What is the best provider out there? I think if we combine plans we can save money and only have one plan between us instead of two individual ones. I am never impressed with Verizon’s service in Emporia. Cell service in Cottonwood Falls is not good and some of the providers are worse than others.

Today was one of those days where the empty space felt uncomfortable for me. Not that I had the energy to do something if I had something to do today. Feels like I am in a bit of a quagmire and not sure how to get out of it. I’m sure I may feel completely different in a day or two.

Grateful for Nicole’s presence in my life, grateful for a quiet day at home, and grateful for a chair nap.

A quiet day at home. It is muggy out today. I finally turned the A/C on as the temperature inside was 80. I don’t do well when it is hot and humid. It feels like summer has arrived and is here to stay.

I did run to the local bank to deposit a donation check for Love in Action. I appreciate the donors support and it is an honor to take a check to the bank.

Did laundry today and actually got it folded and put away. I don’t always get that part done. Had mainly pajamas and lots of underwear this time – guess I can tell what I have been doing the last couple of days!

Haven’t done much else today. Still have some housecleaning that needs done but it seems to patiently wait for me. Maybe this weekend I will get motivated and get some of it taken care of.

No plans for the weekend. Too many people out and about the next couple of days to leave the house. Rodeo fans are out and about locally and bike riders are in Emporia. I may walk up and watch the parade tomorrow afternoon if I can handle the heat. I must be a wicked witch as I melt in the heat.

Found out the beef I get every year from a local rancher is going to the butcher place in July. I have it all spoken for this year. It is always nice to get fresh beef in the freezer. I don’t use near as much as I used to but I do like having it on hand. I provide some for my kids and they seem to appreciate it. Not sure I am excited about writing the check for it this year. I looked up prices and it is sky high this year. I don’t doubt the value for the rancher and am glad they are finally getting paid a fairer price. Wonder how much the processing plant has raised their prices? How do families with young children afford to eat?

Need to get my notary renewed this year. I have barely used it but it is nice to have, I haven’t done a renewal before so need to figure out how to do that. You have to have a bond and I am assuming the company I got the bond with when I first became a notary will send papers so I can renew the policy. I have until August 1 so still have some time to figure it all out.

The Detainee pen pal from Germany sent me his wife’s contact information. She wanted to see the article I posted about him on the Love in Action Facebook page. I sent it to her and she sent a nice response.

Got the new carbon Monoxide Alarms in and of course they don’t fit the screws to attach it to the wall where the other one was. I want to order a light fixture to go above the kitchen sink. When that comes in, I will have Phil over to take care of those two little projects.

This day has felt a bit hard for me. I was trying to do something on my desktop computer and it was not cooperating with me. I had absolutely no patience I discovered. Maybe it is a good thing I am staying home for a couple of days. I will keep myself in time-out until I can play nice with others.

Kathy was cleaning her room today and found a bunch of crumbs under her chair. She told me about them and I told her we must be related. We always find crumbs under my chair too. She said mom wouldn’t be impressed! I have to agree. We must take after dad more.

Feeling a bit cranky this afternoon. It has been a long week and I am still sorting it all out. Our medical system is so broken and I am not sure what to do at this point. This could have all been avoided if the PA had listened to me to start with. I feel small when I don’t get heard.

Grateful for A/C, grateful for a quiet weekend ahead, and grateful I have the privilege of putting myself into time-out and staying in.

Today has been a good day. I am feeling back to “normal”. I was surprised I slept any at all last night after sleeping most of yesterday. I was up between 1:00 and 5:00 this morning but managed to get more sleep before and after that. I enjoyed hearing and smelling the rain that happened overnight.

I forgot to wish my son-in-law Geoff a happy birthday yesterday. He got the card I mailed Saturday today. Oops. One of these years I will surprise him and get his card to him on time.

I went to the local bank and made a deposit and then stopped at Casey’s and got a huge iced tea. Trying to get lots of fluids in and tea goes down easier than most liquids for me.

Worked on the month end post for Love in Action. Not sure why but I had trouble balancing the books today. I kept making stupid mistakes. I will sit with what I wrote and recheck my numbers again before I post. One of those days where it didn’t go easy for me.

The big bike race is in Emporia this weekend and the rodeo here local. I think I will stay home most of the weekend. We might walk down to see the rodeo parade Saturday afternoon if it isn’t raining but otherwise I plan on staying home. Not safe to be on the highways with horses and bikes everywhere. The bikers are going through Matfield Green as it is one of their rest stops. They cross Highway 50 at Road W. I heard they were reducing the speed limit for a bit around that road. Wonder if drivers will do so? I have my doubts.

I fixed rice and chicken to have for lunch. I made it bland on purpose and I was able to eat it and it didn’t bother my tummy. I will eat on the leftovers for the weekend instead of eating out. The restaurants locally and in Emporia will be full all weekend.

Man it feels good to feel good. I am amazed at how fast my body can recover. I am grateful for that. I tend to take my heath for granted until something like this happens and it always humbles me a bit. There are no guarantees for any of us that things will remain as they are today in many different ways.

I changed the photo for the home page of Love in Action to a photo of the new business cards. I think the automatic posts that Facebooks generates about someone changing their profile picture are redundant and I tried deleting the post that stated I had changed the profile picture. When I deleted that post, it changed the profile picture to a generic picture. Wonder why that post is required and not deletable? The business cards has the 501(c)3 ID number as well as the mailing address and phone number for Love in Action. People are always asking for that information. Wonder if this will slow down those requests? I honestly doubt it but I tried.

In the month end report I am writing I wrote about bearing witness. I may end up deleting it as I think those that already understand it don’t need to read about it again and those that don’t understand won’t get it. You can only read and understand what you are ready to learn. I keep reminding myself we really are splitting into two different realities and the two realities can’t communicate with each other.

I haven’t heard from the reporter from Wichita about the story he is working on about the Detainees and Love in Action. Maybe other stories more urgent came up and this story fell apart or got delayed. The way the news cycle works these days is so wild that what was important one day is pushed to the back burner the next day.

Struggling with what day of the week it is today. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seemed to be a week long and I kept thinking today was Saturday. I almost didn’t go to the bank because I thought it had closed early. Glad I checked my iPad yet again to see what day of the week it is. I was surprised every time I checked that today was Thursday.

Still sitting with Love in Action and listening for prompts about what needs to change. I feel like I am missing something important about it but not sure what that is. We are so limited as to what we can do. Maybe what I am feeling is the “not enough” syndrome that plagues me occasionally. I have done lots of work on myself to eliminate the “not enough” thought pattern but it does raise its head once in a while yet. Just testing me to see if I got my lesson, I think.

Grateful to be feeling back to “normal”, whatever that is, grateful for the gentle night-time rain that fell last night, and grateful for my son-in-law Geoff.

I have done nothing but sleep all day. The running to the bathroom has finally stopped. I went a couple times during the night but not near like I had been doing.

I woke up with a temp of 102.8 this morning. Felt like I had been hit by a bus. My jaws and shoulders ached bad. The rest of me didn’t feel so hot either.

I ate a few Ritz crackers and a banana today. Progress! Every time I woke up I would attempt to drink something. Sometimes I could get more down than others. My temp is gone this afternoon and the soreness is getting better. Think I am on the mend.

I sent a regret to the meeting I was to have attended this evening. Didn’t seem wise to go and it would have required way too much energy I don’t have.

I am doing a load of laundry to clean up the oops clothes I dirtied. I felt like a toddler while I was at the hospital at times. Oh well, it was what it was. I finally figured out to go every ten minutes rather I needed to or not. Every time I would get in the bathroom I needed to.

Thinking by tomorrow I will have some energy back and things will start trending up. What an experience. The bad news is I got no answers to my tummy issues and have no plans to go through this again. The Doctor’s office that was to have done the procedure didn’t call today. Not sure I will hear from them. I will sit with all this for a bit and decide if I want to go see a different doctor or let it all ride for a bit.

I need to deep clean my bathroom. I am grateful the sewer was able to handle all the times I flushed. Don’t have the energy to clean it today but maybe by tomorrow I can. It is a mess!

No plans for the rest of the week and weekend. It will do my body good to have lots of empty space and rest. Not sure I will be able to sleep tonight after sleeping all day. I still feel very tired so maybe?

Another reality check for me. Without one’s health what does one have? Must be time for me to make some changes and get back on the path towards wellness.

Grateful to be on the mend, grateful for the ability of my body to bounce back, and grateful for all the sleep I have gotten today.

Had a very long and rough night last night. Trips to the bathroom every five- ten minutes for four hours and then every 10 – 15 minutes for the next four hours.

I was on a liquid diet today and thought I was doing a good job drinking 10 -12 oz every hour. I took my four laxative tablets at 4:00 and then drank the first of the two Mirilax cocktails I was to take. I only got a little over half of the first one down and things took a turn south.

I happened to have some Zofran on hand so took that for the nausea. Every five minutes to the bathroom and then I started running a 101.3 temperature. I quickly became dehydrated.

I called the doctor that was to do the procedure in the morning and he cancelled the procedure and told me to go to ER for fluids. He told me to call the office tomorrow and reschedule. Not a chance in hell I am going through this again. There has to be an alternative way or I will just learn to live with having bathroom issues.

Kathy took me in. Not sure I was impressed with the doctor tonight but I did get a bag of fluids. I went to the bathroom every ten minutes and had one oops. It was hard to manage an IV, a finger monitor, an urgent need and get to the bathroom on time. Thank heavens Kathy was there to help.

She dug around in the bathroom and found an adult diaper for me. It was big enough to stretch to cover my boobs. We decided it was a look! Not sure what kind of look but definitely a fashion statement of some sort!

They did labs and my white blood cell counts were off in several ways. My kidneys are not too happy with me today either. After we had been there for two hours they said they needed a UA. Luckily by then I had gotten most of the bag of fluids and I was able to produce on demand. After another hour the doctor came in and said all the labs looked good and I could go home. He didn’t mention the ones that were off. Maybe that was expected results with dehydration?

We were there over three hours and after the nurse got the IV started I didn’t see her again until she brought in the discharge papers. We had to put the light on to tell them the IV bag was empty. A different nurse came in and said she would tell my nurse. No one did anything. 30 minutes later blood was starting to move up the IV line so we put the light on again. This time an aide came in and flushed out the line and shut it off.

The good news is we don’t have to get up early and go to Topeka tomorrow. I hope Kathy can sleep in as she is up way past her bedtime. We saw three deer on the way home. One of them was on the highway but turned and went to the other lane. We were lucky.

I haven’t eaten anything all day and I am not hungry tonight. Hoping tomorrow things will settle down and I can resume eating and stay out of the bathroom longer than ten minutes at a time.

Life has a way of giving me detours when I least expect them. Although I did tell the NP that prescribed the Colonoscopy that last time I had one done I almost got into trouble with it and she said things are different now I would be OK. Not sure I will go back to this office. Still no answers about the stone in my pancreas duct and my tummy issues. Now what to do????

Grateful I am feeling better tonight and things are slowly slowing down, grateful Kathy was here and could drive me in, and grateful I can sleep in my own bed tonight.

I didn’t find sleep until after 3:00 this morning. I slept in a bit but got up and didn’t feel too rested.

I went to the reunion around 12:45. I got there at the perfect time as they were gathered in a circle and were quiet. That is hard to make happen with this group! I told them Aunt Marylyn wasn’t able to come but she sent her love.

I took two cards for all to sign to send good wishes and prayers to Marylyn. I hung around for about an hour and talked to the cousins that I know the best. Got them all to sign the card and then came home. Addressed the cards and put them in the mail box to go out in the mail tomorrow.

I started the colonoscopy prep this afternoon. Took four laxatives at 4:00 and then drank a bottle of magnesium citrate at 6:00. So far no action but am expecting things to get moving very quickly. I feel a bit nauseous. I hope that goes away when things move.

Tomorrow I am going to visit a friend in Manhattan if things aren’t moving too fast. I have to be home by 4:00 to start another round of prep. Tomorrow is clear liquid day. I didn’t eat much today and I am grateful since I am a bit nauseous.

OK it just hit. Three times in ten minutes. Think I will sign off so I can run faster! Wish me luck.

Grateful to see my mother’s first cousins today, grateful for a quiet afternoon at home, and grateful for a small house so the bathroom isn’t very far away.

I finally got some sleep last night. It felt so good! Sure would love to find the key to making that happen most nights instead of rarely.

I took a long drive through the hills today. I wanted to lay some flowers at the grave of Jack Spain. He had married my grandmother Hope after granddad Fred died. We all loved him and appreciated him.

I went through Matfield Green and took open range road. I was going to take a short detour and go by my great grandparents house but decided not to. The gravel roads are hard on tires and I decided I didn’t want to put more miles than necessary.

The hills are beautiful and there are lots of wild flowers blooming. I was watching for orange butterfly bush but I didn’t see any.

I managed to find the cemetery in Wonsevu. I wasn’t able to find his grave though. I found the grave of a GW Spain and left the flowers there.

I came home the other way and ended on G Road to Highway 50. Less hard gravel that way but the view was better the other way.

There was a truck stopped by the well. I checked with the four men that they weren’t stranded. I think it is an unwritten law out in the gravel roads in the hills that you make sure anyone you pass doesn’t have a flat tire. That truck was the only vehicle I saw on the whole trip while I was on gravel roads. I did pass one man outside his house in the middle of nowhere.

It took me over two hours to do the round trip as I only drove 20 MPH on the hard gravel. I wasn’t in a hurry and the hills were beautiful today. It did my soul good to get out in the hills today.

Had a phone visit with my Aunt Marylyn this afternoon. Unfortunately she isn’t coming to the reunion tomorrow. She has several medical things going on and didn’t feel comfortable being away from home. She wants me to go and let others know she loves them and was sorry she couldn’t make it. Guess I will go up after lunch and let everyone know. I need to eat light tomorrow to start the prep for Wednesday’s colonoscopy.

Tuesday afternoon I am going to visit some friends in Manhattan. I hope I can figure out how to get through the detour. I will have to be home by 4:00 so I can take the last part of the prep. I hope I am not making a mistake by not being close to a toilet all day Tuesday. If things are going strong Tuesday morning I will cancel.

I’ll be glad when Wednesday is over and hopefully find some answers to my tummy issues. I don’t look forward to the next two days of prep but thousands before me have done this and I did it once before. I can do this! Sometimes you have to climb a mountain to get to the prize.

Feeling like a change is headed my way again – something to do with Love in Action but I have no idea what it might be. Something feels wrong about how I am doing things now. Not even sure how or why – I just have a strong feeling that I am missing something important.

I will sit with this and see what comes up. I have run this entire project completely on intuition and I know it will continue to lead me down the right path.

Grateful for the beautiful Flint Hills that restore my heart, grateful for the life and love of Jack Spain, and grateful for no flat tires today.

Kathy and I did the cemetery run this morning. Our first stop was at the Cottonwood Falls Cemetery where we laid flowers for our great grandparents Ray and LuLu Patton and Ray’s parents NM and Clara Patton. We are fifth generation Chase County residents.

We then went to the cemetery in Florence where our parents, grandparents (mother’s side) and Mom’s two sisters and three brother-in-laws are all buried.

Off to Hillsboro where our grandparents on our dad’s side of the family are buried along with one of their sons.

We came home after that. We may try to find Wonsevu Cemetery tomorrow so we can lay flowers for Jack Spain who married our grandmother Hope Patton Koch after our grandfather Fritz died. I haven’t been there for a long time but have a general idea where it is. Don’t know if GPS will help or not.

Kathy was able to use the new mower today and she loved it. It starts very easily and is a bit wider than the old one. She did have to charge the batteries to get the job finished. They don’t take long to charge though. She said she had to put it on low speed as otherwise she would have had to run to keep up with it. Grateful that problem is solved for her and grateful she loves to mow. I’m glad I got the bigger mower and the longer lasting battery one as the smaller one would have had to have been charged twice for her to finish the yard.

I had two five gallon gas cans to get rid of as well as a weed eater. Kathy doesn’t like the heavy gas weed eater and bought herself a battery operated one. We need to clean out the shed and get rid of lots of things. It is way too crowded. I told Kathy as we go through it, if we find things we haven’t used since we moved in two years ago it is getting thrown out or given away.

I wrote a post for Love In Action today welcoming all the new members. Anytime we post a story we get lots of new members as the posts get shared. The post sharing the story about the man that came to the US when he was 16 from Germany has been read over 19,000 times now. The post I wrote is too long but I couldn’t figure out what to leave out. I tend to be way too wordy when I write.

The carbon monoxide detector decided to tell us it has expired and needs replaced at 3:30 this morning. I hadn’t fallen asleep until around 3:00. I didn’t know if it was telling me to get out of the house or what. I finally found the decoder for the number of beeps on the back of it. Then I didn’t know how many beeps it had beeped. I figured if it was telling us to get out of the house it wouldn’t stop beeping. I did turn the furnace off and open a window just in case. Hard to figure that stuff out in the middle of the night. Is it just me or is that when smoke detector batteries tend to talk to you too?

I hadn’t realized the carbon monoxide detectors had a shelf life. I ordered two new ones and they will be here sometime next week. I paid a bit more and got some that are good for ten years this time instead of the cheaper one that was only good for five.

No plans for tomorrow unless we decide to go to Wonsevu. The hills were so pretty today that we might take that drive if it isn’t raining. I have to travel lots of gravel roads to get there and don’t want to do that if it is raining.

Monday is the family reunion. I have to start my colonoscopy prep so won’t be able to eat much. I may wait and go until I think they are done eating and then go visit for a bit. Tuesday is full on prep day and a liquid diet day and then Wednesday I have to be in Topeka by 8:30. Kathy is going with me so she can drive me home afterwards. I truly hopes this test gives me some answers as to why my tummy is so reactive and unhappy a lot of the time.

Still seem to have lots of empty space on my calendar these days. Starting to feel a bit antsy about all the empty space. Need to find a new project to do. I manage life better when I have a couple productive days a week and lately it doesn’t feel like I have had a productive day. But I don’t feel a pull to be around people. Uhm…. I have myself a quagmire of sorts.

Grateful for the memories of the people who’s graves we visited today, grateful the new mower works better for Kathy, and grateful I figured out we weren’t in danger when the carbon monoxide detector yelled at us during the middle of the night.

I was rudely woken up this morning for yet another phone call from the doctor’s office that is doing my colonoscopy next Wednesday. Do they really need to read me the copy of instructions I already have three times? I wasn’t very polite with her, I’m afraid. Seriously! Enough already.

Went to Emporia and had lunch at Applebee’s and then went to Walmart. I think half of Emporia chose to go there while I was there. They moved the parking for on-line pickup orders to their regular parking lot and parking is hard to find now.

I got some flowers to decorate graves with and some groceries and got out of there. The check-out wasn’t too backed up but getting to my car and out of the parking lot felt like I was risking my life.

Kathy had gone to the movies with some friends. When she got home she went over to our neighbor that had volunteered to work on the lawn mower to see if he was able to fix it. He was not. He said the engine was ruined. I bought the mower when I moved in here two years ago!

Kathy and I went to Walmart to get a new one. I always get overwhelmed when I look at the selection and am not sure what to do. I asked the clerk if there was someone that could help me. She said what do you need help with. I told her I had questions about the mowers. She said she would call someone to help me.

Five minutes later I went to find her and she was talking to two other clerks. She saw me and said oh, I forgot.

Kathy and I picked one out and I went to get the clerk to tell her we needed help lifting it and putting it in the car. I asked her if I could pay and then go move my car. She said she had to have the mower at the register to ring it out.

I handed Kathy my card and went to get my car and moved it close to the garden center. When I came back in Kathy had just checked out. They were going to send us out with it without helping to load it.

I asked for help and they sent one little girl to help us load the 88 pound mower box into my car.

Walmart – do better!

Kathy is putting it together and is to call me if she needs help. We got a battery powered one. I trust it will last longer than two years.

I hate buying things like this as I have no understanding of all the extras and details about them. I’m not interested in learning about them either.

I must be cranky again! Two trips to Emporia in one day will do that to me. Kathy was nervous about the yard getting mowed and I knew I needed to take care of the lawn mower situation. Grateful that is taken care of. I just hope we can figure out how to run the damn thing and that it works.

Tomorrow we plan on doing the cemetery run unless it is raining. If it rains, we will try again Sunday. Monday I have a reunion to go to if I can make myself go. Wednesday I have the colonoscopy that I should be well prepared for since I have been read the instructions three times and have them printed out for me to read too.

Life feels a bit hard to me right now. I am working to release some energy I have picked up that isn’t mine to carry. Sometimes that process takes longer than I feel like it should. Grateful I recognized what I had done and am working to release it.

Grateful for our neighbor that attempted to work on the old mower, grateful there were mowers in stock, and grateful the sun came out to shine this afternoon.

I went to the Detention Center to meet with the reporter and some of the staff. All the reporter wanted was a photo of me with three of the staff from the Center. That is worse for me than being interviewed!

We did stand around and visited for a bit. I asked the Sheriff, Captain and the Lieutenant for some ideas of what Love in Action can do next. Father’s Day is coming up as is the 4th of July. I also told them we would do another bigger project if they can think of one.

I asked today to make sure I understood it correctly that the Detainees are never allowed to go outside. That is true. There is a window in the exercise room that can be opened on nice days but it is a high window and all the Detainees can see is the sky. I can’t imagine never being able to look outside or go outside for years at a time.

I then asked if they had ever priced adding a yard for the Detainees to go outside into. They had and the requirements are prohibitively expensive. They are talking Guards’s towers, outside restrooms, special fencing, etc. Nothing is ever as simple as I think it should be. Can’t blame me for asking though.

The reporter and his photographer were nice people. He asked a few questions and I am not sure what angle of story he is writing. The Captain said the reporter is supposed to send us all a copy of the story before it is published.

I went to the Grand for lunch and then came home. I hadn’t been home long when the couple I met on the Camino that live in CA FaceTimed with me. I hadn’t seen their sweet faces for months. It was so good to see them. She is taking chemo for lung cancer. She said the only side effect she has from the chemo is fatigue. She sleeps 12 hours every night and then takes a three hour nap every afternoon.

I took a long chair nap this afternoon. The session at the Center drained me today. My reserve tank seems to be running low these days.

I got a request from a detainee to be a pen pal. I got her matched up and sent her a welcome post.

I got an email from the young man that came over from Germany. His I130 was approved. That is the pathway to citizenship via marriage. Now he has to wait for his green card to be approved and then he can be released and reunite with his family and stay in the USA. He isn’t sure how long it will take for his green card to be approved. The branch that does that is not used to working with someone that is detained. Why he can’t be released now is beyond my understanding but most things related to immigration is these days.

I didn’t make it to Emporia today. I will need to go tomorrow as I need flowers for the cemetery run we are making this weekend. I also need some groceries. Nicole and Geoff have birthdays next week and I need to get something to send them in their cards and get the cards off. They may not get them next week even if I get them sent tomorrow.

It has been a cool, cloudy day. I had to turn the furnace back on and have had my little space heater running all afternoon. I miss the sunshine! We needed the rain but I am ready for blue skies and sunshine again. I will be complaining about the heat soon though. Guess I am hard to please!

Tomorrow I will go to Emporia and take care of some errands. One day this weekend we will do the cemetery thing and then I have a family reunion to go to Monday. Monday begins my colonoscopy prep. I’ll have to read the instructions to see what I can eat that day. Wednesday is my colonoscopy and then if I feel up to it a meeting that evening in Emporia.

Feeling good about the great news from the pen pal from Germany. Rarely do Detainees get released so that feels huge! Wonder if I will get to transport him to his home in Junction City when he gets released? That would be a fun transport. I am betting his wife will come get him as she hasn’t seen him in person since last December.

Hoping I can find some motivation soon to get some things done. This whole month has almost slipped by and I don’t think I did much of anything the whole month. Not sure why I have been so drained lately. It is what it is and I am grateful I have had the time to take a bit of a time-out and allow my body to move at the pace it wants to move – which is like a turtle speed.

Grateful for the good news from the pen pal today, grateful for reporters that tell others the stories behind the headlines, and grateful for a long chair nap.

Another non productive day. Sleep was weird last night as I kept waking up to change my dream channel. I got lots of sleep, just in bits and pieces. Most of the time I could go back to sleep fairly quickly.

I got word from the Detainee that I wrote about yesterday. He had his hearing today and nothing was decided yet again. His next hearing is June 19. The judge did tell him there may be a decision on his I130 case but that branch of Immigration will communicate the results of that to him via letter. He is still detained.

He sent me a nice note thanking me for the support. I had told him over 10,000 people (it is now over 15,000) have read the note I posted on Facebook. He said he didn’t know there were that many people out here that cared about the immigrants.

I wrote a couple of posts for Love in Action. I had to rewrite one of them several times as I didn’t want my anger to show. I got tired of the responses that told me what to do for him when I can’t take those actions. Man it is hard to sit with bearing witness and not “fix” it. I found myself doing that as I read the comments – wanting to “fix” the person telling me what to do rather than sit with what was being said. Good lesson in there for me.

Kathy had to take the lawn mower to our neighbor again as she couldn’t get it started again. If he can’t fix it this time and it stays working I will need to get a different one and sell this one. It is too frustrating for Kathy to deal with a mower that won’t start. She has had nothing but trouble with this one since we first got it two years ago.

Talked to Nicole for a bit today. Just what my heart needed! She helped remind me about dealing with people. I needed that reminder today!

A new friend commented on my blog post last night. It felt like a hug! Again, the universe is providing what I need!

The place where I am having my colonoscopy called me again today to go over the rules. Evidently they have problems with people not following them as this is the second time they have called me. The nurse went over them with me too and I have them printed out. The lady told me to bring the paperwork with me and I told her I hadn’t received it. She put me on hold and came back and said they had forgot to send it out. I told her maybe it would be better for her to call her own office and remind them of what needs to happen instead of me! She gave me several alternative ways to do the paperwork after first telling me I needed to come to their office and pick up a set. I told her that wasn’t going to happen as I am almost 100 miles from there and I was not going to make a trip to Topeka for their mistake. I have half a notion not to do the alternative paperwork and go empty handed. This is on them. I had to fill out the same paperwork for the doctor’s office which is across the hall from the procedure room. If they need it that bad, they can walk across the hall and get it.

Can you tell I am still a bit cranky today? I think I almost have solid ground under me again but the nurse called and triggered me again. It has been hard for me to refill myself today.

Tomorrow I have an interview with a reporter and the Captain of the Center. Trusting I will find the words that I need. I do not want this story to be about me – I want it to be about the work that is being done.

Saturday Kathy and I will probably do the cemetery run if it isn’t raining. We can put if off till Sunday it if is raining Saturday. I need to go to Emporia tomorrow afternoon and get some groceries and flowers for the graves.

Monday I have a family reunion to go to and Wednesday is my colonoscopy. I have to start prepping for it Monday.

It will do me good to have to get out of the house tomorrow. I really need to be around people more but it is getting increasingly difficult for me to make myself get out and about. The energy of the world is crazy right now! Things must be coming to a head and are going to explode soon.

Grateful the universe provided for me today in several ways, grateful for the sleep I got last night, and grateful I have to get out of the house tomorrow.

I don’t think I got more than one hour of sleep last night. One of those nights. I did take a nap this afternoon but am still very tired and cranky. Maybe tonight I will crash and burn and sleep the clock around. I can’t remember the last time that happened and I am way overdue.

The post about the guy from Germany blew up today. There has been a big discussion about why he was not able to claim citizenship through his bio father. I was called a liar, I was told I made up the story because that can’t happen, etc. etc. I finally blocked two of the people commenting and turned off comments.

People know what they know and when they hold on to what they know as truth and not opinion you can’t convince them otherwise. There is small print in the law that obviously this guy’s father didn’t do for what ever reason. I don’t feel it is my place to ask him to explain all the detains. That misses the whole point of the post anyways!

One lady sent me 20 PM’s questioning and pushing and wanting to get legal involved. She is absolutely convinced he is qualified and the guy needs to file a protest. Enough already!!! I would think if that had been possible it would have already been done years ago.

The good news that has come from all of this is that Anne, that is running for the US Senate seat for KS is an immigration attorney and is going to do a prerecorded video of the nuances of immigration law. I asked people to submit questions and when we have a few, she will record a video and answer the questions. I don’t think it will stop the ignorance but at least I could direct people back to the video.

The reporter I spoke to last week called me this morning. He is going to attempt to meet up on-line somehow with the guy from Germany and get some questions answered. I explained how Inmate Sales works and how to get through. He later sent me a message that he had read all of the Love in Action Facebook page and had found someone else that was willing to be interviewed.

I am meeting with the reporter and Jay at the Detention Center on Thursday. The reporter is going to do a stand alone story about Love in Action. We shall see how that goes.

Some days I wonder if I should be doing all this. I felt attacked today and had to keep reminding myself some people are ignorant and don’t deserve my energy. Not sure how I say that on-line though! I finally turned off the comments to stop the incoming. Once one person makes a comment, others tend to follow quickly behind. Must be a lot of sheep out there today!

People do have strong feelings about immigration. I get that. What I struggle dealing with is their anger and how they use those strong feelings and attack the wrong person or thing. I wish they could step out of their anger and get into problem solving and step into love. The world would be a better place if they could.

Made chicken and rice for lunch today. At some point during the night I got up and set out some chicken so I could make lunch for myself today. It was cold out today and a good day to have the oven on.

I still have my pajamas on. I have never woke all the way up today and pajamas seemed to fit my mood. I had no plans to go anywhere so why not make it a pajama day.

No plans for tomorrow. I may need to go to town and get some groceries but we shall see if I can make that happen. Somedays I struggle to leave the house. Thursday I have the interview at the Detention Center late morning. Then I have nothing on my calendar through the weekend. Monday I have a family reunion I can go to if I find the energy to go. One day this weekend Kathy and I will do the funeral run and decorate graves.

Not an easy day today for me. I find navigating comments very hard. I can’t judge what is behind the comment – are they questioning to learn or are they questioning to stir the pot. I assume innocence until they prove otherwise. The only problem with that is then others jump on board and it gets muddy and hard to navigate. Maybe I need to leave comments turned off all the time.

Grateful for Anne and her proposal to do a video, grateful for 99% of the readers that leave positive comments, and grateful today is almost over and tomorrow is a new day.

This has been an unsettled day for me. Probably the weather as a big front is pushing through. It makes me feel like I am going to explode. Maybe I am the tornado that they are forecasting for this area later tonight.

Got permission to share the story of the man from Germany that is being held at the Detention Center. I made the following post on the Love in Action Facebook page.

“One of our Pen Pals has given me permission to share his story. He was brought to the US from Germany by his father who was a US Soldier when he was 16 years old. He is married and has an 11-year-old son. He has been detained at the Chase County Detention Center since December, 2025.

He applied for 130 status (Married to a US citizen) as a pathway to citizenship three or four years ago. He is now in a quagmire as ICE is holding him but they do not have jurisdiction over 130 cases. He has an ICE hearing Wednesday but they may not be able to make a decision and may punt the case to USCIS and he may have to stay detained until they make a ruling. That may take another couple of years.

Please remember we are bearing witness to these stories. We cannot fix the situation. He has a legal team that is working on his behalf but the system is broken and running years behind.

I would invite you to sit with whatever feelings this brings up for you. May those feelings propel you towards being more compassionate and finding ways to take positive action.

You may share this post so others may hear first hand stories of how the US is treating our immigrants.”

I have a feeling it is going to go viral as it has already been shared 33 times and it has only been up for an hour. People need to hear what is happening with first hand stories.

I let the reporter that I talked to Friday know that the Detainee is willing to share his story. The reporter is coming Thursday to meet with Jay and I. Jay is the Captain of the Detention Center. Not sure what angle the reporter is taking. Doing interviews is my least favorite part of doing this project – well that and fundraising.

I went out to lunch today and deposited a donation check I had received in the mail today. Working on doing some laundry but other than that I cannot settle much and get anything done. I was able to write the above post. Sometimes writing things out and getting it out can help me settle but that didn’t happen today.

Someone asked permission to pass along my name and phone number to someone in IL. It has something to do with the Detention Center but not sure what. That request has happened before and rarely does anyone ever call.

One of those days that I could fall into the muck pond rather easily. Doing my best to avoid that. The pain that others have to carry is so heavy and it takes a lot of conscious awareness for me to not pick it up and carry it. It helps no one if I do that and only serves to lower my vibration. Then I am of no service to anyone – myself included. Hard not to get angry at what is happening though. I am giving myself time to allow those feelings of anger and fully feel them and allow them to be heard. Then I will find solid ground inside and rise and continue working with Love in Action and all it brings me.

Grateful for the bravery of the man that is willing to share his story, grateful for reporters willing to tell the story behind the headlines, and grateful for Love in Action as an outlet for my love.

This has been a very quiet day at home. I had to look down at myself to see if I had gotten dressed this morning – I had. that type of day!

I am sitting with my feelings about one of the Pen Pals I am writing to. I am stepping in for someone that is out of the country for this month.

He was brought to the US as a child from Germany. He has applied for 130 status which is to become a US citizen as a spouse of a US citizen. That is handled by a separate branch of the Department of Homeland Security than the immigration cases. Not sure why he was picked up by ICE but has already been detained for several months.

He has an ICE hearing the 20th but he is not sure what they can do. ICE doesn’t get involved in 130 cases. They probably can’t release him though. The department that handles his 130 case is running years behind.

There is a possibility he will have to remain detained until his 130 ruling is made. He has run out of funds to pay for more attorneys as he has already spent thousands. He wants to voluntarily deport as he sees that as a better outcome than sitting in detention for another couple of years. But he is not sure ICE will allow that.

What a quagmire for him. Wonder how many others are in this same position? So many don’t have a clear path to citizenship and others are stuck in the system that is overwhelmed and understaffed. I really wonder why the US thinks it is safer for him to be detained while his case is decided? It does make money for the system though that provides his care.

Sometimes bearing witness is hard! I tend to be an action oriented person and one that wants to find solutions. I can’t solve this one and I am limited as to what I can do to help. I can sit with my feelings and allow them to motivate me to more compassionate action towards others.

I have asked his permission to share his story on Love in Action. I also know a reporter that might be interested in doing a story on him. I will see what the Detainee says and go from there. Maybe we can put some public spotlight on his case and help that way.

Found a volunteer to take care of one of the Pen Pals that has been waiting for a bit to get matched. I had sent his letter to another volunteer and for some reason she has not responded to my questions and I don’t know what is happening. The new volunteer doesn’t have the letter the Pen Pal wrote telling his story and I didn’t keep a copy of it (lesson learned). At least he now has a match. I will be interested to see if he responds to her since it has been so long since he requested a pen pal.

Feeling a bit uneasy today. The weather is ramping up to bring in some storms. We shall see how much rain we get from them. Fingers and toes crossed that tornados and hail are not part of the storm. Sounds like the worst of it will hit tomorrow afternoon and evening.

I took a short nap this afternoon. I didn’t sleep long but it felt good to lay down for a bit. I trust I will be able to sleep tonight but I don’t have any plans all week so will sleep whenever sleep and I can match up at the same time.

I continue to sit in wonder and attempt to guess where the Love in Action project might take me. I did order some business cards today that have our new 501(c)3 number on them. I like to give them to the people I transport and hope that they reach out to me later with a rest of the story update. So far that hasn’t happened except for the father of the Palestine guy that was deported.

Grateful I know how to sit in the in-between space, grateful for the possibilities of good outcomes, and grateful for afternoon naps.

I went to Emporia just before noon today. Met Jason for lunch at Bobby D’s. We had a nice lunch together. Downtown was crowded at it was graduation day for ESU. I had sent a text invite to Michelle, Tagen and Ellexia but I didn’t hear from any of them.

After lunch I took the car through the car wash and then went to Walmart. I filled the car with gas – $58 today. I was all but out of gas today. Yikes!

Went in and got three prescriptions. Two of the three I had trouble refilling using their app. One I tried three times. It would tell me the Doctor needed to send a refill prescription. The Doctor’s site said they had sent it. The Doctor finally sent a new prescription and that fixed the problem. One of them I had ordered and three days later it didn’t show I had. I tried again and the same thing happened. Yesterday when I tried the third time it told me it was on delay. I asked about it today and found out the doctor had written it to be filled every six months instead of every 90 days. They got that fixed and were able to fill it today. However insurance changed me $10 more for a 90 day supply than they do for the six month supply and the product size is the same. WTF? I wanted out of there and didn’t ask about it.

Sometimes the things that are to be easy and simple are not so much that way. Grateful all worked out today and I was able to get them all filled and saved myself a trip to town next week.

While I was waiting in line at the pharmacy I all of a sudden didn’t feel very well. I thought I was going to pass out for a bit. I must have been at the counter for at least ten minutes and finally got what I needed and got out of there.

I had to stop at Flying J and use the restroom. Came home and was still feeling off. Laid down for a bit and then had to get up again. Finally was able to lay down and sleep for about an hour. I feel better but still not back to normal. Have no idea what this is all about.

I will be glad when I have my colonoscopy the end of the month and hopefully get some answers to why my tummy is not normal. I still haven’t heard from this doctor about the results of the MRI I had done earlier this month. Ummm….

Nothing planned for the rest of the weekend or all of next week. Have lots of empty space on my calendar right now.

Got a note from one of the banks telling me my CD was up for renewal. If I hadn’t of changed the terms I would have received over 1.5% less interest. Both banks that I had CD’s renew this week did the same thing. If I hadn’t of checked what the rates were and changed the terms I would have lost over 1% interest on each of them. Do they do this on purpose hoping people won’t check terms?

Had to turn the A/C on today. I don’t do well in a hot house. If Kathy had her way we wouldn’t run it all summer, she loves the heat.

Feeling a bit out of sorts this afternoon. Town was crowded and busy and draining. I wasn’t there any longer than I needed to be. I had thought I would pick up a few groceries but that didn’t happen. The energy in town today felt icky and thick and loud. I needed to get home and sit in silence.

Maybe I am getting old! I feel old and cranky and stiff this afternoon. Maybe it is a good thing my calendar is empty. I must need to put myself in time-out for a bit. The world feels too full of people to me today.

Grateful I was able to get all three prescriptions in one trip thanks to a helpful clerk today, grateful to have lunch with Jason, and grateful I am feeling a bit better now.

I had a fun lunch today. Four of us went to Casa Roma and celebrate a birthday. I need to remember to book lunch dates more often. So fun to gather with like-minded women and visit and laugh.

I forgot to stop at Walmart to pick up my prescriptions while I was in town. I am still waiting on them to fill one more. Hoping they can do that tomorrow and then I will go to town and pick them up.

I wrote a post on fundraising on the Love in Action Facebook page today. Every time I write a bearing witness story, people want to know how to donate. I appreciate their response but they lose the bigger point. Somehow we all have to learn how to sit and bear witness without taking immediate action to fix it. Money won’t solve most of the stories I share. It might make the donor feel better for a hot minute but it really doesn’t solve the bigger problem. I attempted to remind my readers of that point. What I would hope would happen is that the readers of the bearing witness stories will sit with their feelings that the stories bring up for them and allow those feelings to propel the reader to have more compassion for others. Money can’t buy that!

One reader of my post immediately asked me to add to each of my posts the names of some other nonprofits to donate to. I am not going to do that as again that misses the whole point. Not sure how to say that though. I commented that she would be welcome to comment and list some. She responded that I need to make an invitation for that on each post. I didn’t respond and it is not going to happen.

Thank heavens others that commented understood what I was saying and agreed with it. I keep reminding myself not to let one person get me down.

A reporter from the Wichita Newspaper called me today. The mayor of Coldwater, KS had to self report to ICE and was transferred to Cottonwood Falls. The reporter has been reporting on the mayor and somehow found out about Love in Action. We had a nice conversation. He wants to do a story about Love in Action alone plus add some of our story to the story he is writing about the incarcerated mayor. We shall see what comes of it.

The Detention Center had some conversations via email about the piece of exercise equipment. I thought it had already been ordered but it has not been. Hoping they are getting closer to making that happen. Not sure what the delay is as I told them over a month ago we had the funds to pay our half. Trusting this will get resolved soon and the equipment will get ordered.

The dogs are struggling with their haircuts for some reason. Both yesterday and today they demanded Kathy let them come into the house. Not sure if it is the rocks in their pen that feel sharp and hard now that they don’t have their coats on or if it is the heat. At least they aren’t shedding all over when they lay on the rugs.

Other than going to Walmart to get my prescriptions I have no other plans this weekend or all of next week. I need to call a friend or two and schedule lunch. It does my soul good to have deep conversation with friends.

I still wonder where Love in Action is going and what will happen with it. It seems to be on a course that is being driven by a higher power than me. I am grateful for the guidance and nudges I am getting from the Universe to help steer this program. I have no goals for it and attempt to remain open to the twists and turns it makes.

Grateful for lunch with friends today, grateful for all the interest in Love in Action, and grateful for lots of empty space ahead.

Neither Kathy nor I slept much last night. I think I was too wired from my transportation trip to Wichita and worrying if he was able to get a ticket and get on the bus. He has a long journey ahead of him to get home to CA.

I think he told me that ICE took his driver’s license and won’t return it until after his hearing on Monday. Without his license he couldn’t fly home or rent a car to drive. His English was rather broken so I didn’t put that in the write up I did as I wasn’t 100% sure of the facts. We were talking as I was driving so it made communication harder.

Getting a bus ticket is not easy and it didn’t look like the bus station was open when I dropped him off. He told me his bus was due to come in one hour and there were a few people there waiting for a bus. I trust he was able to navigate all that. Sometimes I want to take on more responsibility than I should and I made myself leave before those issues were resolved.

The post I wrote on Love in Action is going viral again. Over 7,300 views and growing hourly. Lots of new people have joined Love in Action again. I will have to do another welcome post. Wish people would browse the site when they join so I don’t have to answer the same questions all the time. People do the human thing though.

Haven’t done anything today. I attempted to take naps a couple of times but not sure I was very successful. Maybe I will crash and burn and sleep hard tonight. I am overdue for a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow Kathy and I are going to Emporia to meet some friends for lunch. We may have a small group but it will be fun to get out and have lunch with who ever shows up. I need to stop at Walmart afterwards and pick up a couple prescriptions. One I have had trouble getting refilled. The pharmacy said the doctor didn’t authorize it and the doctor said they did. I finally got notice it is ready so they must have sorted it out.

No plans for the weekend and so far nothing on the calendar for next week. I’m trusting some thing will come up and fill in some of the empty space for me. I need to find a new project to start or a new volunteer job. I do better when I have a few things each week on my calendar.

The dogs wanted to come in the house this afternoon. They haven’t been inside for months. Not sure what the deal is today. Maybe they didn’t like the way the wind felt on their skin with their new haircuts. Sophia has a paw that she is favoring and Roxy has a lump that needs checked out. The things you discover when you take their coats off. I had forgotten how bad they stink when they fart. It made me get up and go outside for a bit!

I was in the muck pond for a bit today wishing I could do more to fix the immigrant problem we have in the US. I know that what I am doing helps, but it sure doesn’t feel like enough most days. Have been writing a post in my head that I will put on paper one of these days that addresses the myths vs facts of Detainees. I need to do some fact checking on a couple of things before I post. The last thing I want to do is add to the misinformation that is out there. So many people do not understand how our system works or maybe how it doesn’t work. Assumptions are made and most are not true.

Before I picked up the Detainee that was released yesterday, I had a chance to talk to a couple of the staff at the Center. I wish I could do that more often. I hate to bother them all the time though. We share a mutual respect for each other in what we are trying to do. They have a tough job and one they bring compassion to. I honor that.

Grateful for what sleep I did get last night, grateful that people are interested in the work Love in Action is doing, and grateful for a lunch with friends tomorrow.

I had to get up early this morning as I needed to have both dogs in Marion for their spa day by 8:30. I took Sophia for a walk and Kathy took Roxy and we headed over to Marion a little before 8:00. Both dogs loaded easily and didn’t seem to mind going in to the clinic for their haircuts.

Came home and did nothing for a bit. Took a nap as I was still tired. Got some good sleep early afternoon.

At 4:20 we headed back over to Marion to pick up the dogs. On the way the Detention Center called and asked if I could do a transport this evening. I told them I could be there a little after 5:30.

We got to the Vet Clinic and picked up two sweet smelling dogs. They sure look different without their fur coats on. Both dogs sacked out on the ride home. Evidently a spa day is exhausting!

Dropped Kathy and the dogs off and grabbed some snacks and a couple bottles of water and headed over to the Detention Center. I picked up a 21 year old young man that had come to the US three years ago. He entered using the proper channels and claimed political asylum. For some reason unknown to me, he was in Chicago and got picked up 60 days ago. He said they wouldn’t let him show them his papers. All of a sudden he was in handcuffs and taken in.

He lives in Sacramento, CA and needed to get to the Wichita, KS bus station. He has an immigration hearing Monday in Sacramento. Evidently, his attorney had bailed him out.

He didn’t speak a lot of English but we managed to have some conversation. He was a bit shelled shocked and traumatized I think. He seemed to relax a bit with each phone conversation he had with friends and family.

He was a bit amazed at the landscape and all the cows in the pastures. We joked about cows roaming free in the streets in India.

When we got to the bus station, I asked him if he had any cash with him. He did not. He was on the phone with his brother who spoke better English. His brother asked me if I could give him $100 cash. He then attempted to transfer $100 via Zella to me. I don’t have a Zella account and told him it was a gift from Love in Action.

I asked his brother to let me know when he gets to CA. I hope that he does so. Sometimes I don’t get to know the rest of the story. I trust his bus journey home is safe and the court hearing on Monday goes well.

I saw four deer on the way home. Luckily none of them jumped out in front of me.

Grateful I was available and able to transport this young man this evening. I learned I need to stock my car with some chargers for phones. The one I have didn’t fit his phone. It would have been nice if I could have sent one with him for his journey home. I will have to educate myself on all the different phone chargers and get some in my car.

Going to Wichita tonight was not on my Bingo card for the day. Grateful another ICE Detainee was set free and I could help him get his journey home started.

I never know what curves are ahead for me. I now know why I was prompted by spirit to stop at an ATM and get extra cash last week. I also was prompted to take a nap today. Someone, somewhere is looking after me.

Grateful the dogs are fresh and clean and ready for hot weather, grateful I was able to be in service today, and grateful for lots of miles safely traveled today.

This has been a quiet day at home. I did go to the Grand for lunch, I got lucky and got to see the owner. I have been trying to connect with her for a bit so it was good to have some conversation with her.

I did a bit of paperwork this morning. One of the pen pal volunteers let me know she had been able to send her first letter to her pen pal. Love when that happens. Still waiting on two others to do so. Getting closer to getting everyone connected. I have one that the volunteer wrote but the pen pal never responded. I reached out to the pen pal but I didn’t get a response either. I think they wanted funds in their commissary account and we aren’t able to do that. We will try one more time to connect with them and then let it go.

I woke up around 6:00 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep so it has felt like another long day. Hope I can get up early tomorrow easily as the dogs have to be in Marion by 8:30. Will have to take them each for a walk before I load them in the car and go. They get their summer haircuts tomorrow. The meeting I had scheduled for tomorrow night got postponed so I won’t have to hurry when I pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

I have been sitting with some myths about the Detention Center that I keep hearing. There is a lot of misinformation out there about who does what and when. Not sure how to correct that or if that is my place to do so. The whole immigration policy is so broken and has so many different places that need fixed. Guess I will continue to state facts as I understand them and keep repeating myself. I may make a myth vs fact post soon.

I have learned so much about our detention policies since I started Love in Action last July. I was so naive and uninformed. I’m grateful that I get to work with one of the better Centers that do there best to treat people in a humane way.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful another pen pal match was made today, and grateful for the knowledge that I am gaining about our detention policies.

This has felt like a long day. Didn’t sleep well again last night and I was up and going by 6:30. Makes a long day when I get started that early in the morning.

I got an email from the Sergeant that handles the card and stamp program at the Detention Center. She had extra gift cards left over from our Christmas project and decided to offer them to the Detainees to send to their mother’s for Mother’s Day. She needed 30 more! She also said she needed stamps. She wanted me to get them ASAP so she could get them in the cards the Detainees had written out and in the mail.

I left for Emporia at 7:30 this morning. I went to Walmart and purchased the 30 gift cards. I also picked up the groceries I needed. Left there and went to the Post Office to get stamps. They were out of rolls of stamps so had to get the sheets of 20. They aren’t as easy to use as the rolls when you stamp 100 cards at a time but that is all the Post Office had today.

Went to a bank where I have a CD that was up to be renewed. I’m grateful I went in and didn’t let it roll over with the same terms automatically. The bank had a much better rate for a 14 month CD than the 12 month one. I completed the paperwork for that and then came home.

Got the groceries put away and then fixed up the sack of gift cards and stamps and took them to the Detention Center. Someone saw me walking in and came out to greet me and get the cards and stamps.

Am working on doing some laundry but haven’t done much else today. I received a check for a donation today but the lady forgot to sign the check. Oops. I’ve done that before! I will send her a note and ask her to sign the check. I also got a VENMO donation today.

Last night I went to take a bath and couldn’t find the book I had been reading in my chair yesterday. I looked all over the house. Kathy happened to wake up and came out of her room and asked me what I was looking for. She didn’t know where it was either but I went in her room and there it was. Kathy had asked me for a book to read earlier in the day and I gave her a different one to read. I think she must have seen my book lying around and picked it up and didn’t realize it wasn’t the one she had started. All’s well that ends well. My book was found and we found the one Kathy was reading too.

The guy that did the A/C check came a bit early this afternoon. He got the unit all cleaned up and ready for the summer. He liked the room addition. He had been here last fall and we had talked about adding heat and air to the back room. We were never able to get that done but it stayed nice and warm with the space heater. I will be anxious to know how it does this summer in the heat. I may need to get a window unit to put in back there.

Nothing on the calendar for tomorrow. It will be good to have a stay-at-home day. Wednesday I have to make two trips to Marion with the dogs so they can get their summer haircuts and then I have to go to Emporia for a meeting at 5:30. Friday I will be back in Emporia for a birthday lunch for a friend.

Felt good to do a Mother’s Day project for the Detainees. I hadn’t thought to do anything. I’m grateful the Sergeant thought of the idea and that I had extra cash on hand so we could make it happen immediately. Now to think of something for Father’s Day. The Center also let me know that the TV we had given them when we first started got put into use and replaced a much smaller TV in one of the pods. I wonder if they need another TV to have on hand in case one goes out.

I was reading an article about how seniors need to have a hobby when they retire. I decided that Love in Action is my current hobby. It uses my skills and keeps me focused on something positive. It doesn’t cost much for me to do my part. I think that counts as a hobby.

I got a message today from a lady that wants me to do a presentation in August for her church group. That will be fun to do and it is in Emporia so that is close enough.

Grateful for the opportunity to provide another perk for the Detainees, grateful I checked on the rate of the CD that was renewing, and grateful groceries are stocked again.

This has been a quiet day at home. I did go out to lunch but that was quick and I wasn’t gone long. Other than that I really haven’t done much today. I watched a couple of movies on Netflix. One was really good. – Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Tomorrow the A/C guy is coming to get the unit ready for summer. It usually doesn’t take him long and things should be good as the unit is only two years old. The fan unit on the furnace is staying much cleaner now that we moved the litter box out of the laundry room which is where the furnace is.

One day this week I need to go to Emporia and get some groceries. I may get them in Marion when I take the dogs to get their summer haircuts on Wednesday. Marion has a nice grocery store and it would save me a trip to Emporia. I can drop the dogs off and then go grocery shopping. Hoping the dogs get done fairly early as I will have to go pick them up and then I have a meeting in Emporia at 5:30.

I do have a couple of prescriptions that I ordered refills for that I will have to pick up later this week. Hoping they will be ready Wednesday when I go to my meeting. Trying to reduce the number of trips to Emporia I make these days since gas is so high.

I actually got dressed when I got up this morning. It does help me feel a bit more productive than when I stay in my pajamas all day. Not that I did much but …..

Heard back from one of the pen pal volunteers. She had been hospitalized for three days and then her husband had to have surgery. I was glad to hear from her. She sent her pen pal a letter today and is back on track. I have two others that I sent their letters to but they haven’t written their first letter to their pen pal yet. I will need to reach out to them this week and see where they are at with them. That first letter is hard to write sometimes.

Hoping we get some more requests to be pen pals this week. I have several more volunteers waiting to be matched. I had sent a note to the Center about the program but haven’t heard anything back which is unusual. I may try to call them this week if I remember to do so. I also need to get an update on the piece of exercise equipment and find out when it might get delivered. I want to take some pictures of it when that happens.

I keep checking the IRS list of non profits and Love in Action, Inc is still not listed. I can’t refile the income tax return until it is listed. Uhm….. not too impressed with the IRS these days. Grateful they granted me official 501(c)3 status but come on and get me listed. Wonder if they are understaffed?

My mind feels empty tonight. One of those few times where I can’t hold on to a thought for long. Maybe it is a good thing that I don’t have a lot going on right now as I am not sure I could keep track of things. Not sure why or how my brain does this but it does occasionally.

Grateful for another quiet day at home, grateful I was able to get dressed this morning, and grateful the pen pal program continues to write on.

I’m still in my pajamas if that tells you how my day has gone. I woke up too early and couldn’t go back to sleep so finally got up. I did take a nap late morning and slept for 45 minutes or so. Not sure I feel rested but at least I am not as cranky as I was yesterday.

Haven’t done anything today. Don’t have much to do other than cleaning and I wasn’t in the mood for that today. Spent most of the afternoon reading a book. I haven’t done that for a long time and it felt good to read today. I usually read every night when I take a bath but today I got some extra reading time in.

One of the Pen Pals got her first note sent to her Pen Pal. That is a good thing. I had mailed her the letter about 20 days ago. She had gotten it and set it aside and had forgotten about it. Grateful I got one more Pen Pal matched and going.

Still have three more that are pending. One I knew was going to be out of town this week and one of the others lives out of state and I am thinking it is taking a bit for USPS to get the letter to her. Not sure what is going on with the other one. I know they received their letter but haven’t seen a response and they haven’t answered my emails. They might have set up a personal account and I can’t see that they are writing.

I didn’t get any new Pen Pal letters this week for some reason. I had been getting one to two or even three a week. I know the lady that passes out the cards and stamps has been out of work as her father died. Maybe she hasn’t returned to work yet.

Mother’s Day is tomorrow. For some reason this weekend is always hard for me. I don’t like Hallmark holidays and that is what this one feels like to me. My kids learned a long time ago to ignore it for me. There is something about the day that feels forced and unauthentic to me. There are so many women that the term “mother” is a trigger for them for lots and lots of different reasons. I loved my mother and remember her every day, not just on a day that I am told I have to. Guess I don’t like being told what to do! Who knew?

No plans for tomorrow except I might consider getting dressed. I have had two pajama days back to back. Getting dressed might give me some motivation to do something – then again maybe not. Monday the A/C guy is coming to do the annual check. Wednesday I have to have the dogs in Marion before 8:15 and then go back and pick them up that afternoon. I have a meeting to go at 5:30 in Emporia. Friday I am going to a lunch with some friends.

I need to figure out a way to end this self imposed isolation I seem to have put myself in. It is so hard for me being around people right now. My tolerance for small talk is below zero right now. I find it very draining to be out and about and very loud. Anyone else feeling this?

Grateful for another pajama day, grateful for one step progress on the pen pal program, and grateful for good books to read.

This has been a low energy day for me. I didn’t sleep well last night and woke up too early and couldn’t go back to sleep. I have never felt like I woke all the way up today. Took a short chair nap but still feeling tired and unmotivated. One of those days…..

I was looking for a picture of Mom to post for Mother’s Day Sunday and found our five generation picture so posted that instead. Grandma died not too long after that picture was taken and mom followed just a couple years later. Ellexia didn’t know either of them. Things do change at the blink of an eye.

I was looking at Facebook memories and came across the picture of Kathy and I with a Facebook friend of mine. We had stopped to meet her on our trip back east when Gene died. I was thinking of posting it and didn’t but thought I might come back to it. When I went to my home page my friend had posted it! Great minds think alike. That visit was one of the highlights for me of that trip back east. We had become friends through the Prayer Shawl Ministry page and somehow had connected and stayed in touch with each other. It was a joy to meet her in person. She is one of those people that you feel you have known for a lifetime. The conversation was easy and comfortable.

Nicole sent me a link to some river cruises that are on sale and asked me if I might be interested in going on one with her later this year. Of course I said yes. We haven’t decided which one yet. The link wasn’t working well and I am having trouble getting details of the cruises. It really doesn’t matter where we go though. I am in!

I’m a little frustrated with the Pen Pal program. Relying on others to do what they agree to do is hard for me. Not sure where this program is going to go and maybe I need to find someone else to manage it for me. It is way too much work for the results I am seeing. Many won’t respond to my emails – not sure if they aren’t getting them, they are going into spam or if they have changed their minds and aren’t interested any more. All they need to do is tell me and I will take them off the list. I am going to have to check my settings and see if I can get it to tell me when someone opens and reads the emails I send. Some wrote one or two letters and then haven’t written for two or three weeks.

I think the Detainees deserve someone that will regularly correspond with them on a weekly basis. Yes, life happens but communicate! Not sure what is so hard about that.

Grateful that a few of the Pen Pals are writing on a weekly basis and establishing a relationship with their Pen Pal.

Yes, I am a bit cranky today. I’m sure by tomorrow I will be back to my normal self. I’m going to let myself soak in the mud pit today and find my grounding and walk out rejuvenated tomorrow.

The girl that needed some food hasn’t come by to pick it up yet. Wonder if she is going to come yet today. Maybe something came up and she can’t come. Communication would be nice.

Good thing I stayed home today as I don’t think I could play nice with others today. I think I will put myself in time-out and stay away for all for their benefit.

I’m grateful days like this are rare for me. I can’t believe there was a time I lived in this state most of the time. It actually feels icky to me now and not “normal”. Guess I will take that as a sign of personal growth. I can only go high when I can go low. Maybe I will get a bounce and fly even higher when this day is over.

Grateful for life lessons, grateful for five generations, and grateful Facebook has allowed me to make great friends I may never or seldom meet.

Another day, another doctor’s appointment. Glad this run of three in one week is done! This one was a compliance required check of my sleep apnea machine. What a farce. But that box is checked off and Medicare will now pay for the equipment.

While I was there I talked to him about the MRI results. He was rather lame about them. I asked him if there was a blood test that told them if my pancreas was working or not. There is and so I asked him if he would order it. He rather reluctantly did.

The results are back and one of the two levels is elevated. He said he would leave it to the GI doctor to go from here. He did promise to send them the results.

I feel like I am a dog chasing my tail. Where does this lead? Maybe it isn’t anything to worry about? Wish I could find a doctor that was curious. My concern is when a pancreas goes bad, things can go downhill very fast. Guess preventative medicine isn’t practiced these days so much.

The GI doctor’s office hasn’t called with the MRI results yet. Not sure they will. My next scheduled visit with them is for the colonoscopy the end of May. Maybe things will stay stable until then?

Had lunch with Jason today. It is always a good day when I get to spend time with one of my kids.

I stopped and filled the car up on my way home. It was almost $50 to fill it up. Yikes! How do people on a low or fixed income afford to drive these days? I know I am attempting to reduce the amount of trips I make to Emporia these days.

I noticed I have a small amount of hail damage on the hood of my car. I’m not surprised as we have had at least three different rounds of hail this spring already. I won’t turn it in to insurance as the damage isn’t that bad. I don’t want my rates to go up over that.

No plans for the rest of the week and into next week. Monday A/C. Wednesday I take the dogs to Marion for their summer haircuts and then go pick them up in the afternoon. Wednesday evening I have a meeting to go to at 5:30. Friday I have a lunch to go to.

A friend dropped by with a sweet surprise for Kathy and I. While we were talking she said she has also noticed being around others is draining these days. Glad I am not the only one that would rather stay home than be around people these days.

I had gotten a bunch of food when I had found someone that was to build a blessing box I was going to put in my yard. The lady never came through with building the blessing box and the food has been sitting there. I saw a note from someone I kinda know today saying they were in a bind due to an accident and needed food. She is coming to get it tomorrow. Yay! Grateful it will get to someone that needs it and I will free up a shelf in my back room pantry.

Looking forward to a couple days at home. I was able to not get drained being out for three days in a row this week which was a good thing. Today at lunch though I noticed how loud it was and I was grateful to get out of there. My system is very sensitive right now for some reason. I am not tolerating chaos and noise very well.

Grateful for lunch with Jason, grateful for a sweet treat from a special friend, and grateful I can provide some food for a friend.

I was up at 5:00 this morning so I could head to Topeka by 5:20. Made it out the door on time and made it to Topeka by 6:30. There was no wait at registration and I didn’t wait long after I registered before the young man came and got me for my MRI.

He was very good at his job and explained everything in a simple, easy to understand way. He got my IV started without a problem and got me strapped to the board that goes in the MRI.

The MRI itself took about 30 minutes. I had to hold my breath at times but it seemed reversed to me as they had me inhale and then exhale and hold. Usually you exhale and then inhale and hold.

The guy that was running the machine would warn me when it was going to be a long exhale hold. I had no issues with the noise of the machine but I got cold and at the end was beginning to shiver a bit. If you move, they have to start the whole thing all over again so was grateful I was able to do some energy work on myself and stop the shivers.

I got the results via MyChart this afternoon. They are abnormal but they weren’t able to visualize the stone in the duct well. The report sounded like they got their hands on the CT scan and used those results more than what they saw today. They are now recommending a different procedure which is a tube down the throat. I will see what the doctor recommends when he calls with the results. The good news is they didn’t find anything else that was abnormal.

They noted that the tail of the pancreas has atrophy which was discovered on the CT scan. I looked it up and most often it is caused by alcohol abuse. Hmmm…. I don’t consume alcohol. It also can be caused by chronic pancreatitis which I have never been diagnosed with. Hmmm….. I must be a medical anomaly. I have had chronic digestive issues so maybe I have had this for a long time and it was never diagnosed.

Had a smooth trip home. For some reason the trip home felt very fast. Came home and took a short chair nap. My neighbor kid came over to brush the dogs and he woke me up. That was probably a good thing as I didn’t sleep too long so maybe I will be able to sleep tonight.

Haven’t done much this afternoon. I don’t really have anything pending right now that is urgent. There is always housecleaning that could be done if the mood strikes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t strike often!

Tomorrow I have yet another doctor’s appointment. This one is with my family doctor and is a compliance check up for my sleep apnea equipment. That visit shouldn’t take long. I will have my family doctor review the results from today and see what he recommends.

No plans for the weekend. I will need a couple quiet days at home to recover from three days being out and about this week. Luckily today I didn’t run into very many people at the hospital. I must have been early enough that most weren’t out and about yet. I was tired when I got home but I did get up at 5:00 and that is impossibly early for me.

Still feels like I am sitting in the in-between energy space. More and more I am thinking this is world energy and not necessarily something individual. I can feel the push and pull that is going on. I have been intentionally grounding into love energy and rising above the chaos. The chaos feels like it is growing which may be a good thing as maybe the eruption is close.

Grateful the MRI process went smoothly, grateful for a safe trip to and from Topeka, and grateful for a short chair nap.

It was a stormy night around here. I was still awake when the first round of rain went through. I looked at radar and thought we were done for the night when the rain stopped.

I finally fell asleep around 3:30 and was woke up by the hail. My goodness it was loud and went on and on. When I got up and looked outside it looked like it had snowed an inch or more. We didn’t have any damage but there are lots of leaves littering the sidewalk and yard. I didn’t see any branches down in my yard but there are limbs down around town and in Emporia. It has rained off and on all day and the high is barely 50 today. After being over 80 yesterday it is hard for my body to adjust. I have been cold to my bones all day.

I was in Emporia for my haircut at 10:30. Got that finished and then went to my Cardiologist appointment. Not sure the point of going to that but he did try to convince me to trust my heart, even with the rapid heartbeat upon activity. He said he has ruled out all the bad things that could happen and I need to move my body and help it get back into condition. Easier said than done but after I get the all clear with the stone in my pancreas duct I will have to get back to taking care of my body, fast heart beat and all!

Stopped for lunch and then came home. I have been sitting in front of my little space heater trying to get warm. Last night I had trouble sleeping and was sweating so I had turned on the A/C. Today I have the heater and space heater on. Gotta love living in KS in the spring time.

Wrote a couple letters to the pen pals. A couple of them have been waiting for their pen pals to write but their pen pal hasn’t gotten their letters to do so thanks to our slow USPS. I didn’t want them to feel forgotten. I also wrote to another pen pal as her pen pal hadn’t written to her for over two weeks. Not sure what is going on there but again I didn’t want the pen pal to feel forgotten. I am also writing to one of the pen pals as his pen pal is out of the country for the month of May. His court date is coming up and I didn’t want to lose connection with him while his pen pal is gone.

One of the pen pals had gotten my welcome message and then a note from his pen pal and he was confused as we both sent them under the same name as sender. He also wanted to know why he could send us an email for free when the other emails he sends costs him money. I need to add that information in the welcome letter I send the Pen Pal before their pen pal starts writing them. Still learning how to make this program work.

Tomorrow I have to leave the house at 5:30 so I can be at the hospital in Topeka by 6:45 for my MRI. Yikes! That is way early for me. Sometimes I don’t go to sleep until that time. I didn’t get much sleep last night so maybe I can go to bed early tonight and get a full night’s sleep before I have to get up before dawn. I was not on good speaking terms with sleep last night!

I should be home late morning as the MRI is scheduled to start at 7:30 and is to take about an hour. I don’t think I have anything else I need to do in Topeka before I come home. Guess if I don’t sleep tonight, I can come home and take a nap.

Thursday I have to go to Emporia for an appointment with my family doctor. It is part of the compliance program with the sleep apnea machine. That visit shouldn’t take long! I called the company that I got the machine from and they were to fax the compliance report to my doctor. Trusting that happened! We shall see.

I think after I get home Thursday I get to stay home for a couple of days. No plans for the weekend. Next week looks fairly quiet. Monday the heating and air guy is coming to do the spring check on the A/C unit. I am taking the dogs to Marion for their haircuts on Wednesday. They have to be there by 8:30. I will have to go back and get them that afternoon and then I have a meeting to go to Wednesday afternoon at 5:30. I have two CD’s that are renewing next week so will need to check rates and get those in terms that are what I want.

I did OK getting out today but it was just me and the guy cutting my hair and the doctor’s office was empty of patients except for me. I’m grateful it was a fairly quiet re-entry to the world. I will see how I do in the energy of a busy Topeka hospital tomorrow.

This journey with Love in Action is fascinating to me. I looked back at the beginning posts when I first created it and could not have guessed we would be where we are today from those posts. I will have to be aware of the no political involvement though. When I hosted the No Kings Rally of One Hour of Kindness I had stated in the publicity that it wasn’t political. Little did I know then that when we became a 501(c)3 that was one of the requirements. Someone has been helping me set this up. I wonder what we will be focusing on a year from now? I have no earthly idea!

Grateful for a haircut, grateful for a kind Cardiologist, and grateful for a space heater on this chilly spring day.

A year ago today my oldest brother Max (Gene) passed away. I had turned my phone to silent before I went to bed and forgot to turn it back on. Max’s best friend attempted to call me several times to let me know the news. I finally got her messages and made contact with her. Kathy and I ventured back east to clean out Max’s apartment and settle his affairs.

It still feels like something is missing in our family. Someone asked me the other day how many siblings I had and it took my breath away for a moment when I had to say I had five but only four are still alive.

This has been a quiet, stay-at-home day. I did a bit of paperwork for Love in Action and a bit of housecleaning. I have somewhere to go the next three days so I have been mostly mentally preparing myself for that.

Nicole called and told me about her trip to China. It sounded like they have a fabulous experience. I was surprised when I asked her if it was like Japan and she said no it was more like India. Not sure you could convince me to go to China now. Loud, crowded places and roads are not my thing. I’m grateful they had a safe journey and have wonderful memories of their trip.

I managed to call and get the compliance report for my CPAP records requested to be sent to my primary doctor before my visit Thursday. I also scheduled a haircut for tomorrow. He had an opening an hour before my cardiologist appointment which was perfect and will save me a trip to town.

I have to be in Emporia at 10:30 in the morning for my haircut. Grateful it isn’t earlier than that. Wednesday I have to be in Topeka at 6:45 for an MRI. That is way too early! I don’t do mornings well these days.

Both Kathy and I could have taken naps this afternoon. It feels like it may storm this evening and the air feels heavy. We could use the rain although we don’t need high winds or hail. Colorado is to get a late spring snow storm. They can keep the snow!

Almost to fall asleep as I write. Hmmm…..

Enjoying this day of quiet. I am becoming a hermit and I may like that! Preparing myself for getting back out and for the cooler weather that is coming.

Grateful for a day of rest, grateful for my oldest brother’s life and the joy he brought me, and grateful for memories.

Happy birthday daddy. 100 years old today! You never felt old to me. Somehow you were able to maintain that childlike innocence all through your life. You found the little things that most people missed in nature. Your love lives on through your family and friends.

I found a picture of daddy riding a riding mower and pulling a wagon full of granddaughters. That was so daddy! He created a lot of memories for my kids and his other grandchildren. He would get on the floor and play with them and let other things wait to be done until later.

It has been a quiet day at home. I did go out to lunch but other than that have stayed home and relaxed. I am working on some laundry but not much else.

I went back to PayPal to attempt to add a charity donation button. Ran into roadblocks again. I wonder why this is not easy for me? Guess I will stick with VENMO and call it good. I don’t anticipate many donations over $250 anyways and if I get one I will track down the donor and get their address.

I will need to track donors that give on a regular basis and see how their donations add up. Once they get to $250 I have to send them an official notification of their donation so they can deduct it if they choose to on their tax return.

I did some reading about requirements of running a 501(c)3 non profit. One of the main ones is no political campaigning or participation. I have attempted to set up Love in Action as non political from the beginning. I will have to remember to not make any political comments when others comment.

I attempted to have the tax return I filed refiled. It was rejected yet again. I looked up the list of non profits and Love in Action is still not listed. Maybe it takes the IRS a bit to update their list and files. Once it is listed on their site, I will attempt one last time to file the return.

I read today that if you miss filing for three years in a row IRS can revoke your status. Maybe I don’t have to file for last year.

Tomorrow I need to call the sleep apnea place and have them send my reports to Dr. LaSota before my appointment on Thursday. This visit is required by Medicare so they will pay for the sleep apnea equipment. I also need to call and get a haircut scheduled. Ellie needs her annual shots so I need to call and schedule that. It is time to get the dogs their annual dog tags from the city too. Maybe I can get all that done tomorrow.

Feeling a bit isolated and lost today. The quiet time I have had was deeply needed but it feels like I dropped out of society somehow. If the meeting I went to yesterday is any indication, it is going to be hard for me to rejoin society. Somehow I am more keenly aware of the vibration differences and being around low vibrations is hard.

Grateful for my daddy and all the love he shared with my kids, grateful to get to learn about running a 501(c)3, and grateful for to-do lists so I don’t forget to do something important.

I got the best news today when I got the mail. IRS finally approved the 501(c)3 status for Love in Action, Inc. This has been in the works since last December. The first step was becoming an organization with state nonprofit status. The next step was applying for the 501(c)3 status which I did way back the end of February or March. I’m grateful it is complete.

Now I need to educate myself on all the rules of running a 501(c)3 to make sure I don’t do something I shouldn’t do. I want to keep it as simple as possible but sometimes what I think is simple is not what the IRS thinks is simple.

Another person stepped forward to be a Pen Pal volunteer. A second one requested the guidelines and I haven’t heard a response yet. I trust more Detainees sign up so all the volunteers can be matched.

My neighbors had a yard sale today and their young son was out helping with it. He had dropped off a flyer a bit ago that he will brush the dogs and bathe them. I went over and talked to him and he agreed to come over several times over the next couple of weeks and brush the dogs out. The dogs are getting their summer haircuts the 13th of May and the haircut will go much easier if they aren’t full of mats like they are now.

I went to Emporia to the Lyon County Democrat gathering. They served chili and cinnamon rolls for lunch (for a donation). After a bit the speakers started. I couldn’t stay. All of a sudden it felt like I was on a different vibration than the room and it didn’t feel good. We have got to figure out new ways to do politics. The room was full of gray haired old people. We are the ones that created this mess and we are not the ones that is going to get us out of it. We have got to change and rebuild the system – this one is not working.

Getting several emails from vendors that my debit card isn’t working. I changed several of them ahead of time but I sure missed a lot of them. I went through the car wash today and it wouldn’t let me in as my debit card was not good. I came home and fixed it. I’m sure I will get more notices.

No plans for tomorrow or Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have medical appointments. I’m grateful I have the following couple days free to recover.

Still feeling like I am sitting in the in-between space although it feels lighter with the resolution of the 501(c)3. Still feels like some big change is headed my way but I have no idea what it is.

Grateful to get the approval for the 501(c)3, grateful to listen to my intuition and I was able to leave the event early today, and grateful for some quiet days ahead of my busy week next week.

This has been a quiet day at home. It is May Day and the day of dropping out of the economy. I haven’t left the house or purchased anything on-line today. Not sure one day is enough to get the attention of the billionaires but it is a start.

Thirteen years ago today was my first day of retirement. It took me several months to wrap up all the odds and ends of selling the business and taking care of all the bills, etc. I do remember how nice it was to answer my phone and not hold my breath wondering who had done something stupid.

When the girls were still in middle school and high school, Craig and I took them on a mission trip to Mexico City. We went with a small group of people and stayed for about ten days with families that attended a Methodist Church. On the trip was a lady named Paula. Yesterday she left a note on my Facebook page and said she had known me for over 30 years. It took me a bit to figure out who she was and how I knew her. I didn’t remember what her last name was when I knew her. I finally got brave and sent her a PM and asked if she was the Paula from Mexico City. It was. How cool is that!

Got two more letters from the Detention Center. One of them was from a person from Laos that will be deported soon. He wanted to thank Love in Action for the things we do for the Detainees. I sent him back a note and wished him a safe journey to Laos. The other note was from a woman that had a probation violation and had to come back for a couple of months. I matched her with a Pen pal and trust that will help her.

Had another request from a volunteer to join the program. I don’t have enough Detainees to match with all the volunteers but it is nice to have more than I need in case a bunch come in. Unfortunately most of the ICE Detainees aren’t there long enough to get in the program or if they do request a match they are gone before we have much communication with them.

It started out to be a beautiful day but the clouds have moved in and we have a chance for rain. I have had to put my little space heater on to keep warm today. I am ready for it to warm back up although I need to be careful what I ask for as I don’t do well in temps over 80.

Nicole and Geoff are headed home today. They have a 32 hour trip ahead to get home. The hard part of traveling is getting there and then getting home. With the time change I’m confused as to when they will be home. Thinking sometime tomorrow and then they will have Sunday to recover before they go back to work on Monday.

Next week I have three appointments. Tuesday I see my Cardiologist, Wednesday I have a MRI in Topeka and Thursday I see my family doctor for a sleep apnea check. After staying home all of this week, next week feels busy!

Not much on my to-do list right now. Still sitting in the in-between time of something that I can’t put my finger on. This week of quiet, stay-at-home time has been good for my soul. I feel a tug of war going on inside though as it is hard to be in service when you aren’t around people.

Grateful for retirement, grateful to reconnect to old friends, and grateful for this quiet time.

Two years ago Kathy and I moved to this house in Cottonwood Falls from the big house in the country. It was a huge change for us but one I am so happy we made.

The moving truck had finally finished loading up this house with boxes when I got the call that Craig had made his transition. I guess we both made transitions that day. I think of Craig often and wish I could call him when something comes up with one of the kids. His love for them continues and I see him in the kids. He left a big hole for all of us to fill with love.

This has been a quiet, low energy type of day for me. Had trouble sleeping last night so it felt like a long night with little sleep. My sleep apnea machine and I were not good friends last night.

Have stayed home most of the day. I was going to go to Emporia to get groceries but decided I really didn’t need that many things so went to the Dollar General store instead and got some essentials. The rest of the things on my list can wait till another day. Gas is too expensive to make a needless trip to Emporia. Went to the bank downtown Cottonwood Falls to cash a check and to deposit a check.

Got the month end report posted for Love in Action. We used to have a rather complicated process for month end when we had the McDonald’s. It would take me several days to get all the numbers added and the proper people notified of our monthly sales. This report is nothing compared to those days.

No plans for the weekend. Tomorrow is the national day of protest with a call to not spend any money. I haven’t been doing much of that lately anyways but will intentionally stay home tomorrow and not eat out. I am still on my no spend kick that I started the end of last year. This is the longest I have ever gone on it. Material things just don’t hold much interest for me these days.

I saw a recommendation that those of us that are retired do intentional acts of kindness tomorrow since not going to work is something we do everyday. I got a new box of greeting cards and if I remember I will spend some time writing some cards and mailing them. It is fun to get a card or letter in the mail as it doesn’t happen often these days. You kinda have to be around people to do random acts of kindness and I don’t plan to be out and about.

Wrote two letters to the pen pal Detainees. One of them needs a pen pal and I haven’t found one to match him with. The other one has a pen pal but she is out of the country for the next couple of weeks and I didn’t want him to not get an email while she was gone.

I wrote a response to a post on someone’s Facebook page and a lady commented back that what I wrote was not true. Hmmm…. I don’t like when someone tells me what my truth is. I ignored it as when someone is that close minded it doesn’t serve me to argue with them as they can’t hear me. Truth is probably the wrong word here as it is more of an opinion.

Grateful for another quiet day at home, grateful Dollar General has the essentials so I don’t have to go to Emporia, and grateful for all that support Love in Action.

This has been another quiet, stay-at-home day. I am working on finishing up four loads of laundry. I changed the sheets on my bed and am washing the bedspread. It will be nice to crawl into bed tonight with fresh sheets and a fresh bedspread.

Did a bit more decluttering today. Slowly working my way through the little piles here and there in the house. I guess I am doing my spring cleaning. Funny how I let little things pile up until I can’t anymore. Time to clear things out again.

My tummy has been a bit angry today. Sure hope the MRI and colonoscopy gives me some answers and solutions as to why it does this way too often. The MRI is next week and the colonoscopy isn’t until the end of May.

Got another donation for Love in Action in the mail today. I will adjust the month end numbers to reflect this additional donation. Every time I get a check in the mail, I wished I could meet the person that mailed the check and give them a hug. The donations feel like a confirmation that this little project is to continue, even when I hit challenges.

Kathy mowed the yard today. I sure appreciate how she keeps the yard looking so nice. I offered to hire someone to do the mowing but she likes doing it. She is in heaven having a yard to play in.

I plan to go to Emporia tomorrow to get groceries. I’ll text Jason this evening to see if he is free for lunch. This is his crazy busy season so he may not have a lunch break. I don’t think I have other errands to take care while I am in town other than going through the car wash.

No plans for the rest of the week or the weekend. Next week I have three medical appointments on three different days so that will feel busy to me after these last couple weeks with nothing to do.

Still disconnected from the news. I attempt to read it and it all reads like a comic book. Most of it feels like lies and extreme distortions that I struggle to believe and relate to.

I still need to make some connections and put some things on my calendar. I would rather stay home alone than spend time with groups of people. I do enjoy one-on-one time with friends and need to make some of that happen.

Grateful to be working on spring cleaning the house, grateful I may get some answers to my tummy issues in a month or so, and grateful I have the privilege of choosing to stay home or go out.

It has been another quite day mostly at home. I went out for lunch but didn’t do anything else while I was out.

I took care of a few little things that needed done and I had been putting things off. I am slowly reorganizing things and getting rid of the clutter that has piled up. Still have two more places to work on.

I worked on the end of month report for Love in Action. I like to write it and then sit on it for a day or two to make sure it says what I want it to. It is hard to keep it short – I tend to over explain things and I’m sure some that read it don’t appreciate all the extra details.

Still no plans for the rest of the week. I have three doctor things next week to keep me busy. Maybe I have reached the age that I don’t get out unless it is to go to the doctor or a funeral.

One of these days I will need to go to Emporia and get groceries. Maybe I will see when Jason is available for lunch and go that day.

I haven’t been able to read much of the news this week. So much of it feels false and truth is very hard for me to find right now. Sometimes I wonder what happened to all the grown ups. This throwing insults back and forth feels like grade school. Time for all to grow up and figure out how we co-exist.

I am working hard at building a foundation with love as my base. It sure feels lonely at times though. I need to do more one-on-one connecting so I don’t feel like I am alone in this. I have a feeling there are more that think like me than not but somehow the noise from the other side seems to be louder and more dominant in most places.

Grateful the clutter is slowly going away, grateful for another soul filling quiet day at home, and grateful to know love will win!

This has been another quiet day mostly at home. I did go to the Grand for lunch today. My favorite waitress was there so it was nice.

I did some clean up of my files today. I have a pile of papers I need to take out to the shed to store. Got everything else filed where it should be. I really dislike not being able to find a piece of paper I need.

Got another note from a Detainee looking for a Pen PAL. Not sure if the next one in line wants this one or not. I haven’t heard back from her. This is one that is there not for immigration issues. Some of the volunteers only want immigrants.

Got another volunteer through the process to be a pen pal. Now I just need to pen pal to give her. I never know how many will request to be in the program and how long someone that does request a pen pal will remain at the facility. Three of them that wanted in the program are already moved out of this facility.

It is time to work on the end of the month report for Love in Action. We are in a good position with funds for the moment. Still haven’t paid for the exercise equipment. I haven’t heard an update on the expected arrival date. We don’t have to actively fundraise right now.

The river is up and running fast. Haven’t heard when it is to crest. North of us got up to five inches of rain yesterday. We were on the tail end of the storms both time they passed this way.

My new debit card came in today so I worked on updating my accounts with the new card information. I’m sure I forgot some accounts to change. Some of the accounts the funds come directly out of the checking account and not through the debit card. I have a couple more I need to check on. One doesn’t realize how many auto pay accounts they have until something like this happens.

Felt a bit restless today. I did manage to get up and work on some little projects I needed to get done. That helped a bit. I function better when I feel I have been productive and that wasn’t what I have been the last couple of days. Some old habits are harder than others for me to step away from.

This empty space feels more like in-between time and I am not sure what I am in-between. Maybe it is the world shift that is happening that I am tuning into. I have learned how to sit in this space and feel the uncomfortable feelings and hold them while what ever is coming happens. This feels like it is going to be a long haul and I will get lots of practice holding space without knowing what I am holding space for.

Grateful for lunch out today, grateful the filing is caught up, and grateful we missed the heavy rain that fell around us.

This as been a stay-at-home pajama day today. I have been dong laundry but haven’t gotten anything else done. The afternoon went by quickly for some reason.

We had some heavy rain this afternoon but it didn’t last long. Lots of area around got heavy hail but we didn’t get any. I am grateful for that. Hail can do even more damage than heavy wind.

I put a frozen pizza in the oven to share with Kathy for lunch. Five minutes later she comes out with a frozen pizza she was going to put into the oven to share with me. We must think alike!

We have an eager beaver pen pal recipient that I may have to remind to only send one email a week. He wants daily responses. I can understand where he is coming from but not sure we have the resources to send responses daily to all the pen pals.

The single parent that had her hearing last week is no longer at the Center. She has either gotten moved to another Center to prepare for deportation or has already been deported. I’m not sure what the procedure is and am not sure it is the same for each of them,

One of the disadvantages of the pen pal program is not knowing how long they will be there to correspond with. Not sure the detainees know the answer to that either though. We shall see where this goes and how it plays out.

Nothing on my calendar all week. Hoping I have a couple of productive days and get some things done around here. I have several small projects that need done if I can make myself get them done.

Today it feels weird to have no plans for the week. It feels a bit empty and overwhelming tonight. Tomorrow it may feel freeing. I will do my best not to allow my feeling of the moment to put limits on this empty space time. The more I can be uncomfortable with it the more comfortable with it I can become.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for the rain we got without hail and heavy wind, and grateful for empty space and all the feels.

I went to the Longest Table event in Emporia today at noon. It was a gathering of I would guess 80 plus people that shared a meal together at one long table. Its purpose was to help people connect to others. Not sure how successful that was but I did appreciate the effort.

I saw some people I hadn’t seen for a long time which was nice. Met a couple new people. I did introduce myself to a mother and son and had a nice conversation with the mother. I found out she also attended Hartford High School but is 10 years younger than me so I didn’t know her.

Shared with a few the Love in Action story. Not sure how the story landed. One of the people had been incarcerated himself and knew the Captain of the Center I work with.

Came home exhausted. That type of social setting is very draining to me and I usually avoid them. Making small talk with strangers is hard for me, especially sitting at a table where you can’t mix and go. I left as soon as it felt politically correct that I could do so. Not sure if there was a program of sorts after I left or not. I thought they were going to have some live entertainment but if they did I left before that happened. I didn’t see a lot of people mixing with people they didn’t know. It probably happened more than I realized.

I stopped and filled the car with gas and then came home. I laid down for a bit but woke up with acid reflux – I really dislike when that happens. I had trouble falling and staying asleep all night last night. I am really tired again today.

Nothing on my calendar for all of next week. I should have lots of empty space to get done some little projects I need to do around the house that I have been neglecting.

The weather is starting to look a bit threatening again. I have had a headache again today but think it is weather and allergy related. Kathy spent a lot of time outside today pulling weeds. They were easy to pull since we got rain earlier this week.

I feel relief that today’s event is over and my calendar is empty for the next week. I reached my limit of being with people today and it will take me a couple days to refill. Some people really love events like today but I am not one of them.

Grateful people are working to help others connect, grateful the deviled egg plate was empty, and grateful I have lots of empty space to recover.

This has been a quiet, stay-at-home type of day. It has been sunny and cool outside today. Mother Nature is behaving herself today after all the storms yesterday.

I got the deviled eggs made for the lunch I am going to tomorrow. I was to bring a side dish – I trust they will serve as that. It will be good for me to get out and people. I haven’t done much of that lately.

Worked a couple hours on the Pen Pal Program. I think I finally have it organized and all the volunteers up to date on their status and what is happening. The application we go through to send emails is getting easier for me with repetition. I think all the Pen Pals have figured out how it works. I still have one more Pen Pal that needs to send their first letter and then all will have used the application.

Got another new request to be a Pen Pal today. This one is not an ICE Detainees but someone being held on drug charges. One of the volunteers agreed to work with him.

One of the Pen Pal recipients has been deported. We only had a brief exchange with him before he left. Have a feeling that may happen again. The ICE Detainees don’t get much notice when they are leaving and won’t be able to always tell us ahead of time. That can happen with the other Detainees too. Advanced planning doesn’t always happen!

I am hoping for more Pen Pal requests as I have volunteers waiting to get matched. I have no control over that end of it so will accept what ever comes in and be grateful for those that do sign up.

Tomorrow I have to be in Emporia at noon for the Long Table event. Not sure how many people have signed up for it so not sure what to expect. We have a chance for rain tomorrow so it might get moved inside.

No plans for next week at all. Lots of empty space right now. In this moment that feels comfortable and just what I need. There is something up in the greater world energy that makes me want to cocoon at home right now. Trusting it will calm down soon.

Grateful the deviled eggs are done and the eggs played nice and were easy to peel, grateful I get to stay home all day, and grateful I have an event to go to tomorrow.

I met Jason in Emporia for lunch today. I hadn’t caught up with him for a bit so was nice to have his company for lunch.

After lunch I went through the car wash and then went to Walmart to get what I needed. I had a long list of things I needed today so it took me a bit. I saw my baby brother and a guy I graduated from high school with. I need to get out more as it increases the odds I run into someone I know!

Came home and got everything put away. I picked up the wrong stuff for my colonoscopy the end of May so will have to go back and get the right stuff.

We had quite the storm blow through late afternoon. The tornado sirens went off for a short while. By the time Kathy got her shoes on and found her cat the sirens were done. We got a small amount of pea sized hail and some heavy rain for a short bit. Didn’t get the nasty stuff that others around did. Heard there was a tornado that touched down out by Lake Kahola and they are reporting damage to roofs.

Kathy was coming home from going to the movies right before the storm hit. She saw two tornadoes north of highway 50 on her way home. Grateful she got home before the nasty stuff hit here.

Worked on the Pen Pal program for a bit today. I have a feeling some of my emails are going to people’s spam file as I don’t get much response back. So frustrating when that is the only way I have to communicate with them. Guess I better get phone numbers from now on so I can check in. All but two of the Pen Pals have received their first responses so we are moving along. One of the two said they will get on it soon and I haven’t been able to get hold of the other lady.

I came up with a letter to send the Detainees that sign up laying out the program and what restrictions we are working under. Some have already requested things that we can’t do. I want to make sure they know this will be a weekly response and not a daily one. Can’t afford to do them daily – especially if lots more sign up over the coming weeks.

Have a few people that want to be Pen Pals but haven’t heard back from them if they agree to follow the restrictions. I will attempt to send them an email from a different account and see if that will go through. I don’t want them to think I have forgotten them. I don’t have Pen PALs to assign them but thinking more will sign up as time goes on.

I have to take a side dish to the event I am going to Saturday. Decided to make deviled eggs. Everyone seems to enjoy them and most people don’t make them often. I will get those made tomorrow. They are easy to make if the eggs will behave and play nice and let me peel them easily.

The Detainee that is from Palestine is to be deported tomorrow. His father has kept me up-to-date on his progress and will let me know when his son arrives in Palestine. Not sure where they are flying him to and how far it will be for him to then get to his father’s house. ICE doesn’t make it easy for them to get to where they want to go.

Still haven’t heard about the status of the 501(c)3 application. I check the website daily and nothing has changed. Not impressed IRS! A friend tried to call them yesterday and last I heard she had waited on hold for over two hours. Never did hear if she got through or not.

I mailed a letter to a PO Box in Strong City from Cottonwood Falls and it took over a week to arrive. Man, I could have walked it to the post office and walked back home quicker than the mail took. Not impressed with the postal service these days.

No plans for tomorrow except for making the deviled eggs. It should be a stay-at-home type of day. Saturday I have the Long Table event and then nothing else on my calendar for next week.

Had trouble with sleep again last night. I kept having nightmares which is most unusual for me. I would wake myself up to turn the dream channel. I was up from 2:00 – 4:00 and finally found some more sleep. I am tired tonight though. Maybe I can sleep tonight!

I feel like I am sitting in that in-between space right now but not sure what is on either side to make me feel that way. I really don’t have too many projects going on except waiting for the 501(c)3 to be completed. Maybe what I am feeling is bigger than my little projects. The world energy is crazy right now and when I get still enough I can feel the new love energy coming in and overtaking the old, fear energy. Maybe that is really what I am feeling.

Grateful we didn’t get the nasty storm energy this evening, grateful for lunch with Jason, and grateful the Pen Pal program is up and running.

This has been a quiet, stay-at-home type of day. It was cloudy this morning but cleared off this evening. I miss the sun when it takes a day off. It is to rain the next four days. We need the rain but I do miss the sun.

I got some letters and notes written today that have been on my list to do for some time. Felt good to get those done. Got a few spots in the house decluttered and cleaned up. Finally got the iced tea jug washed out and out of the dining room. Only took three weeks for me to do that! Geez!

A friend came over and I helped her get her Pen Pal site up and running. That site is not an easy site to navigate. I need to check in with a couple of the Pen Pals and see if they set it up privately or are having issues getting on the group site. I finally figured out how to work it. I purchased 90 more emails for the group site. Each email is $0.50 no matter how many you purchase at a time but the service fee is much less when you do the bigger purchase. The service fee was $6.20 for 30 emails and $8.00 for 90.

A girl that lives here in Cottonwood Falls posted she needed to borrow a large sized dog kennel so she could care for a momma cat and her babies for a few weeks. We have two so I offered one to her to come get. This girl spends most of her time caring for all the feral cats in Cottonwood Falls and making sure they are fixed and cared for. I admire the work she does.

I might have fixed my Grandfather clock. It has been ringing the wrong number of chimes on the hour for a long time. It ran down last night and I changed the hands moving them forward this time and stopping on the quarter hours. When I reached the hour it rang the right number of chimes. I stopped it and then started it when it was the right time. I will see in a bit if it is fixed.

Tomorrow I need to go to Emporia and get some groceries and run a few errands. I may try to meet Jason for lunch but he is really busy this time of the year and may not be able to take a lunch break.

Saturday I am going to the Longest Table Event. It is an attempt to gather lots of people to share a meal and make new connections. A friend I haven’t seen for a long time is a table chair and I will sit at her table. Trust the rain will hold off and they can hold it outside as planned. We shall see.

Time is doing its thing with me again. I don’t have a good relationship with time anyhow. When something happened in the past I would not be very accurate in telling you how long ago it happened. Could be days, weeks, months, years ago – it all feels the same to me. The clock stopped today didn’t help with my time issue as it said the same time all day! I guess it is a good thing I am retired and don’t have to be places on time very often right now.

This empty space time has been interesting for me to experience. On one hand it is just what I needed. On the other hand I struggle to feel productive and feel a bit isolated. Interesting to me that my perspective changes throughout the day. Same time, same space, different perspective makes the time feel different. Makes me wonder what else my perspective changes my thoughts about.

Grateful to get caught up on my correspondence today, grateful I got another Pen Pal up and running and grateful I could loan out a dog kennel to a neighbor.

Neither Kathy nor I slept much last night. There was something in the air! Trusting tonight we will both crash out and make up for the lack of sleep we got last night.

Kathy and I headed for Wichita around 10:30. I needed to do a Costco run and Kathy asked if she could tag along. I was grateful for the company.

We had lunch at Chipotle before we hit Costco. It was good as usual and service was OK. There was a bit of a line when we got there but it moved fairly quickly.

We did the Costco thing. I forgot my phone in my car and had to go from memory to get what I needed. I did well as I didn’t forget anything. I couldn’t find their powdered sugar so didn’t get that but I looked. I didn’t break the bank when I checked out so all was well!

It was a beautiful drive through the hills going and coming. The grass is so green it can almost hurt your eyes. We saw cattle being unloaded onto the pastures and saw a couple of pastures being burned. I was surprised they were burning today as the wind was a blowing strong.

We are starting to get some responses from the Pen Pal program. So far we have nine or ten people that have signed up for the program and have touched base with over half of them so far. We shall see where this program goes. I hold no expectations for it but trust that both sides will find some value in it. I made a new match today as a letter came in yesterday wanting a match.

Read a heartbreaking story of a family from Emporia that has been broken up with the dad being deported. He leaves behind in Emporia two or three small children and his wife. She wrote about the amount of attorney fees they had to pay both before and after he was picked up. It was over $30,000. She also mentioned how much it cost to stay in touch with him while he was being held for 60 days. She provided him with funds so he could order things from the commissary plus funds she had to pay to communicate with him on a regular basis. He was dropped off in Mexico far from where he needed to go and she had to fund transportation for him to get to where he had family.

She didn’t say what his status was prior to being picked up although she mentioned how long the process was and how the tules kept changing creating an unclear path for him to citizenship. She has no idea when or if they will see each other again.

Her young family is now in financial disaster with the loss of his income and all the additional expenses. Man! What the hell are we doing? Can’t believe this man posed a threat to anyone and he certainly wasn’t the danger criminal that we were led to believe were going to be deported.

I am waiting to hear about the young single mom of an 8 year old that got picked up and has been held in Chase County Detention Center. She was to have her hearing today. I sent her an email and asked her to update me but she may not have the energy to do so, especially if she got bad news. Not sure what will happen to her young son if she gets sent back to Mexico.

Multiply these stories by the thousands and you get a glimpse of what life is like for far too many in the US right now. Do we really not have room for them? What are we so afraid of if we allow them to stay? Our immigration policy must be fixed so immigrants are given a clear path to citizenship. If they don’t or won’t follow it, then deport them but at least give them a clear path to pursue.

Bearing witness is not for the faint of heart. Man, these stories hurt my heart. We have to find a way to do better for all mankind, not just the rich white people.

Grateful to be restocked with things from Costco, grateful for lunch at Chipotle, and grateful for the extra sleep I will get tonight.