Author: Kay Krause

We are sailing on the ocean all day today. I got up and went to the group meeting to teach us how the debarment process works. We will carry our own luggage off and be in the second group that debarks. The first group is the group that has a flight before noon. Our flight is at 2:00 and we have a 9:00 bus to take us to the airport. We will have to be packed and ready to go by 7:45. They will call us by deck number and will debark about 8:00 ish.

I think I am feeling a bit seasick today. I keep having little dizzy spells that feel motion related. I have been able to eat so not sick to my stomach but feeling a bit tipsy. It is cloudy and the ocean is a bit stirred up today, although certainly not rough by any means.

The weather for the cruise has been OK but not great. The first day was bright and sunny but since then it has been very foggy in the mornings and overcast in the afternoons. I am grateful I brought along my sweater as I have rarely had it off. I could have use sweat pants for the evenings. Not good suntanning weather. Beats the heat I hear KS is having this week though.

Ellexia and I checked out the shops on board today. To my surprise she didn’t find anything to buy. She still has a bit of money left from the money her parents gave her for spending money for the trip. Maybe she will find something at the airport. We will have a couple of hours to kill tomorrow so will have time to do some shopping there.

I haven’t seen much of Lex today. She found a group of friends to hang with. I go looking for her about every hour or so and put my eyes on her. She looks like she is having fun. They stop and get food when they get hungry, swim, go down the water slide and just hang out. I’m glad she found some kiddos to hang with. I am a bit boring for her after a while.

I trust Ellexia has created some memories that will last a lifetime for her. Tagen still talks about things that we did when I took him back east when he was 10.

Tagen picked up his pickup today. The cost of the repair was about what I expected. He said the blinkers aren’t working and he was having trouble getting the key out. This pickup will teach him a lot. It is a 1987 so hopefully he will be able to work on it some himself.

No plans for the evening. I hope to convince Lex to get to bed fairly early tonight as we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. She stayed out until 1:00 last night, came in and fell right to sleep and slept until almost 9:30 this morning. She has been swimming a lot today so hoping she will wear herself out and be ready for bed a bit earlier tonight.

Just got us checked in for our flight tomorrow and have our boarding passes. That feels good! I am ready to head for home.

Grateful for a quiet day on board, grateful Ellexia has some kiddos to pal around with, and grateful this ends tomorrow.

We docked at Ensenada MX this morning. Ellexia wasn’t hungry so after we got dressed we debarked and walked towards town. Luckily this debarking is easy – walk on and walk off with no waiting. Neither one of us was impressed with what we were seeing. We walked into town over a mile and found a horse drawn carriage that was to take us on a tour of town. We decided to take a ride as we were tired of walking. We went about six blocks down a street, made a U-turn and came back up the other side of the street. Not sure it was a tour of town.

I paid the guy what I understood I was to pay him. We walked on down the street and after a few minutes the guy came running up to us and said I had shorted him. Ummm…. I didn’t argue and gave him another $10. I think I got scammed but not sure.

We didn’t find much to see going the direction we went so turned around and went back to the cruise ship. Ellexia was hoping for some shopping places but if they are there, we didn’t find them. I was hoping for a white sand beach but it wasn’t there either.

Came back to the cruise ship and had breakfast. We hung out in our room for a bit and then Ellexia went out to walk around. I finally got up again and went to have a burger for lunch. Ran into Ellexia on my way back to the room. She had met another youngster to hang out with and wasn’t too excited to see me. I told her I needed to see her face every hour just to make sure she was OK. She agreed although wasn’t too excited about it. I think she is tired of me, perhaps.

Not much for me to do on board. I don’t drink, I don’t like noise and crowds. I am feeling my age I think. It is nice to find a quiet, shady spot while the ship is cruising to look at the water and sky. So far we have only cruised at night so haven’t gotten to do much of that. Tomorrow we will be cruising all day so will find a good spot and sit outside most of the day and watch for whales, dolphins, etc.

Ellexia stayed out until 1:00 tonight as she made some friends to hang with. She is having the time of her life.

Grateful for this time with Ellexia, grateful Ellexia is having a great time, and grateful it will be over soon.

The cruise is about what I expected – loud, crowded, lots of people. Hard to find a quiet corner to relax in. The boat is hard for me to navigate and find my way around. We stop and ask directions but the crew is so familiar with the boat that they don’t realize their directions are impossible to follow if you don’t speak Boat Language.

We were going to go to the sit down restaurant for breakfast but gave up after asking four different people for directions and being unable to find it. Made me cranky! We finally figured out tonight that some floors you can’t get to the other side of. You have to go up or down a floor and walk to the other end of the boat and then up or down a flight of stairs to get to where you want to get.

We found breakfast in a buffet service place that was noisy, crowded and full of unconscious people taking up space talking and making it hard to get around them. We finally found some food and had to take it out of the restaurant area to find a place to sit down and eat.

It was very foggy this morning so we waited until later in the morning to go to Catalina Island. You have to get boat shuttle tickets to go to Catalina Island. We had to wait about one and one half hours before they called our number so we could go to Catalina Island. It was a bit of a disappointment to me. I had anticipated a white sandy beach a mile long and that is not what they had.

Ellexia did some shopping and spent a big chunk of the spending money her parents had given her. She was ready to come back to the ship after that. It was about a 20 minute wait for the boat shuttle to return us to the cruise ship. Then it took about 20 minutes to debark as we all had to go through the security screening before we entered the ship.

We went to a place that had chicken for lunch. It took another adventure and lots of walking to find the place. Not sure it was worth the hunt.

I spent the afternoon in the room resting. Ellexia came and went all afternoon. She is comfortable roaming around the ship. She didn’t find many kids on board though as I am assuming most spent the whole day on Catalina Island.

We went to the fancy place for dinner tonight. It was elegant night so Ellexia got to wear the new dress she had gotten for the trip. We ate early to avoid the crowd. The food was OK but it was nice to have table service. The waiters were very good. As we were eating we saw dolphins swimming and jumping in the water and even spotted a whale spouting off a couple of times.

We have been out and about checking out what is going on a couple times tonight. Not many kiddos hanging around this evening. Ellexia has changed in and out of her dress a couple of times. Most people still have on their elegant wear and she wanted to fit in. Made no difference to me!

Not sure cruising life is for me. Too many people in a small area. Ellexia seems to be having fun most of the time though and that is what is most important on this trip.

Our room is very small and has one bed. The other bed was pulled down from the ceiling and has a ladder to it. It makes me feel claustrophobic to sleep in the lower bed as the upper bed is over the back part of my bed. We have a nice housekeeping guy though. He learned our names the first day and when he sees us in the hallway he calls us by name – impressive. We can hear the music from the lobby while we are in our room.

Tomorrow is the day in Mexico. I am hoping they have better beaches and more to do. I also hope we can get off and on the cruise ship without having to use the shuttle boats. We shall see what the day brings.

Grateful for this time with Ellexia and for the memories we are making together, grateful the fog of the day lifted and the skies turned blue again, and grateful for the almost quiet in my room.

Traveling yesterday was easy. Ellexia enjoyed the airplane ride and acted like she had done it lots of time. We had plenty of time in the airport to enjoy a pizza before we went to the boarding gate. The flight left on time and was smooth.

We got to LAX and found the hotel shuttle bus fairly easily. It showed up only about 10 minutes after I called it. We only had a five minute ride to our hotel. Unfortunately our hotel room was not ready for us when we arrived at 10:30 at night. We had to sit in the lobby and wait for about 45 minutes until they finally let us in our room. We had trouble finding the room and it was not an impressive room by any means. We were so tired by that point we just went to bed. The guy that checked in right before we did had it worse. He was given a key to a room that had a couple already in it. He caught them in the act. Needless to say he was furious at the front desk and then he had to wait for over 30 minutes for another room – this one empty.

Got up and had breakfast at the hotel. I must say the people in the lobby that were guests at the hotel were not very pleasant. Ellexia wanted some scrambled eggs and I finally had to go with her as she kept getting pushed out of the way and she couldn’t get them.

I called an Uber to take us the the cruise terminal in Long Beach. The lady driver showed up within a few minutes and safely drove us to our destination. It was about a 40 minute drive. I noticed gas costs about $5 a gallon here. The Uber charge was $40 for the drive which seemed reasonable. The bus ride coming back from the cruise terminal to the airport was $40 a piece – Uber wins again.

We waited at the cruise terminal for about an hour and then went through the initial processing point. We then had to wait another hour in a big waiting room inside the terminal before our group was called to board the cruise ship. The check in process itself was quick and easy and no long line until we were called to get on the ship itself.

Unfortunately we never saw a place where we could put our bags so we had to carry them onboard ourselves. Our rooms weren’t ready for about two hours after we got on the ship so we had to carry our bags wherever we went. We finally figured out where the food was and got some lunch. Seating was hard to find but we managed finally to find a place to sit and eat. Ellexia changed into her swimming suit and got in the pool and hot tubs while we were waiting for our room to be available.

We finally got to get into our rooms and dumped our bags. We hung out by the pool most of the rest of the afternoon. I found a place in the shade to sit and Ellexia would go off and then come touch base and go off again. A lady sat and visited with me for a while which was nice. Ellexia got hungry so she grabbed a hamburger and fries and that served as dinner. She came and went all evening after I went to the room and stayed in for the remainder of the day.

I am struggling a bit to deal with all the people and noise. I can hear the music from three levels down in our very small room. I’m glad Ellexia feels comfortable roaming about the ship without me.

Grateful for a safe journey here, grateful for Uber, and grateful to have figured out how to get us on board and into our room.

Ellexia and I are packed and ready to go. Just waiting for the clock to turn 4:00 and then we are off on our adventure. Our first stop is the KCI Airport. We will park, go through security, have dinner and then be ready to board our 8:30 flight. We will fly direct to LAX and then catch a shuttle bus to our hotel, which is close to the airport.

Tomorrow morning we will have breakfast at the hotel and then take a Uber to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal. We will board our cruise ship at noon and the ship will depart at 5:00.

I think we are ready for this. It will be good for me to get away from all that is happening here and take a couple days to relax and spend one-on-one time with Ellexia. Hope she can stand me for five days.

Both of us were able to get all our things in our carry-on bags. We have to leave room to put our purses in the bag before we board and both of us have room to do that. I didn’t get stopped with this bag when I went to Vegas with it so we should be good to go. I love traveling without checking bags. Makes it so much easier.

We didn’t make it to town today to get another load. Things got a bit dicey and we backed out. Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do. We will try again next weekend when I get back home.

Tagen is ready to take over chores. He brought up 13 eggs today! Go girls. I had told Tagen earlier in the week I wanted the girls to give me at least a dozen eggs in one day before I left. They did it today! When I get home we will start selling eggs again.

I remembered what I had been forgetting to do. I needed to call the bank and let them know to put a travel alert on my debit card and to call the credit card company and do the same. The credit company no longer does travel alerts but the debit card bank does. Glad I remembered to do that in case we need to charge something.

The forecast for KS shows the high to be 99 most everyday this week. Feels like we picked a good week to get away from the heat. Trusting the weather will be nice where we are going. Los Angeles has a high of 82 today.

Grateful our adventure is about to begin, grateful all our things fit in the bags, and grateful for 13 eggs from the girls today.

Rain came very close to my corner of the prairie this afternoon but all we got were a very few big sprinkles. Dang it anyways.

Tagen, Ellexia, Michelle and I went to the house in town and filled Michelle’s car and my car with more stuff. Poor Tagen carried tote after tote after box after box of things up from the basement. We cleared out the bedroom of stuff but then ran out of room in the cars and put more stuff in the bedroom to bring home another day. Thank heavens he can lift a heavy box or tote and carry it up the stairs. Not sure how we would get this job done without him.

Came home and unloaded both cars. The barn is quickly filling up. Michelle has a huge job in front of her to sort through everything and figure out what to do with it. Some things she is going to store here, some she will give away, some throw away and some will be repacked to move to her new house when she moves again.

We got done unloading around 6:00 and I came in and quickly turned the grill on and fixed hamburgers and hot dogs. I had hard boiled some eggs earlier and I turned some of those into deviled eggs. Called that dinner.

I have a load of laundry to do in the morning and then Ellexia and I will need to get packed up. We will head for the airport around 4:30. Still not sure if Michelle is driving us or if I will drive and park. Our flight leaves at 8:30 so if will be a long day. It is a direct flight to LAX so crossing my fingers all will be on time. Not sure what we will do if this flight gets cancelled. That late at night there aren’t a lot of options available.

Made out a checklist of chores that need done while I am gone. Tagen is used to taking care of the chickens but will now have to take care of the dogs and cat too. Kathy will be his backup and reminder person if needed. Tagen is very responsible so am sure he will do a good job taking care of things.

We may go in tomorrow early afternoon and fill both cars again with more stuff from Michelle’s house in town. It needs to get done and the clock is ticking with how much time we have to get it emptied out. We probably can fill both cars with what Tagen carried upstairs today.

Looking forward to getting away for a couple of days. The week will go by quickly, I’m sure. Ellexia is getting excited about taking her first plane ride and getting on the cruise ship. I trust the trip will meet and exceed her expectations.

The kiddos brought up 8 eggs from the girls today. The second Easter Egger has started laying as their were two blue/green shelled eggs in the bucket. Everyday we get closer to all 27 laying. We are probably about half way there now.

I still have a feeling like I am forgetting something important that I was to do before I left. I still have 24 hours to remember what it was. There is still the possibility that I didn’t forget anything too.

Had a bit of anxiety earlier today. Not sure what that was from. I allowed it to be and it finally dissipated and calmed down. As much as I love to travel, I always hesitate to leave home knowing I will be gone for a while. I am at heart, a home body.

Grateful two more loads were handled today, grateful for Tagen’s strong body and help, and grateful tomorrow is the start of our adventure.

No plumber today. Why am I not surprised! I did go talk to the mechanic about Tagen’s pickup. I think we got good news. I don’t understand these things. There is something on it called a MAP sensor. It runs better when it is disconnected. The mechanic put a new one on and nothing changed. He is going to try another new one in case the first new one was defective. If we get the same results he will leave it disconnected. Go figure that one out – it is above my pay grade.

The pickup will be ready to come home Monday. Michelle will need to get it tagged on Monday and it will be good to go. She has insurance for it ready to go on Monday. The boy should have wheels Monday! Yay!

I have had a do-nothing day. I took a good nap in my recliner this afternoon. I got woke up this morning by the yippy little dog and I wasn’t ready to wake up when I did. I laid back down but couldn’t go back to sleep. I felt draggy and low energy all day. It has been a bit cloudy and overcast today but no rain. Felt like a good nap type of day.

I heard a commotion downstairs this morning. I went down and the little dog was on Kathy’s bed shaking. Louis, the cat was on the floor with it’s fur spiked out. The two of them were glaring at each other. I guess they had a lover’s quarrel or else they don’t like each other. Not sure what was going on. I brought the dog upstairs and closed the cat in his room and put both of them in time-out. I tell you it is a zoo around here somedays.

I am cleaning out the refrigerator for dinner tonight and serving leftovers. I haven’t done that with the kiddos before so we shall see how this goes over. May end up making grilled cheese sandwiches or ham sandwiches. I forgot about fixing dinner until just now so you get what you get sometimes.

Tomorrow afternoon we are getting another load or two from Michelle’s house to bring out. Will do the same on Sunday. Not sure what is ready to come but we need to get things out here. Haven’t heard if they are any closer to selling the house yet. Sure would be nice if they got an offer this weekend.

Sunday I will do a load of laundry and pack. We will have to leave around 4:30 or 5:00 for the airport. We have an 8:30 flight. Trusting all will be on schedule and we will arrive on time. Good thing we can sleep in a bit Monday morning.

I have this feeling like I am forgetting something for the trip that is important for me to do before I leave. Wish I could figure out what it is. Hate to leave Kathy to deal with something I forgot to do.

I got all the beef I am getting spoken for. It will be good to have a freezer full of fresh beef come the middle of August. I still have some left over from last years beef that I need to use up. Sure is some good eating.

Somedays I can get lots done, and other days I get nothing done. This was a get nothing done type of day. Only problem is I seem to have more of those days these days than the get lots done type of days. Sign of getting old?

Grateful the pickup will be coming home Monday, grateful the beef is spoken for, and grateful for naps on cloudy days.

One out of three isn’t bad -right? No plumber and no call about the repair on Tagen’s truck but the dryer got installed on time and easily. I was impressed with the delivery team. They worked quickly, quietly and efficiently. It didn’t take them much time at all.

I did several loads of laundry this afternoon and the new dryer dries much quicker than the old one did and much, much quieter.

I will text the plumber in the morning and ask him what time he is coming as he said he would be here this week. Tomorrow is his last chance day.

Tagen and I will go check on the status of the pickup in the morning. Hoping he lost my number and the repair is completed. Michelle got insurance for the truck so it is good that way. Still need to get tags for it and then hopefully Tagen will have wheels while I am gone next week. If not, then Michelle will have to drive us to the airport Sunday afternoon and come get us Friday evening so Tagen can have my car to use next week.

Got some much needed housecleaning done today. The clutter on the kitchen counter was driving me batty. Michelle cleaned out the pantry last night and got it so you can walk through it now. I really dislike clutter and after a while it wears me out. Feels good to have most of it contained tonight.

Tagen went to weights and football conditioning this morning. This evening he was invited out to dinner so he hasn’t been around much today.

I fixed scalloped potatoes with leftover ham for dinner tonight. It was just Michelle and I that ate and I had way too much leftover. Guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow night?

No plans for tomorrow other than checking on the pickup and hopefully greeting the plumber. This weekend we are getting another couple of loads of Michelle’s things. We have got to keep at that job so the end job won’t be so overwhelming.

Ellexia comes back here tomorrow afternoon. I want to make sure she gets lots of sleep Friday and Saturday nights so she is well rested for our long travel day Sunday. Our flight doesn’t leave until 8:30 KC time and will arrive in LA at 10:00 LA time. We have to catch a shuttle bus to get to our hotel so it will be pushing midnight before we get settled in for the night. We will get to sleep in Monday morning as we won’t have to leave the hotel until 11:00. We board the cruise ship at noon and sail at 5:00.

Tagen brought up nine eggs today. Some of them are getting to be regular sized eggs now. Still getting a few first eggs each day from new layers. Still have over half that need to get with the program and start laying. Only one Easter Egger has laid her first egg. Waiting on the other 9 to get with it.

We have a chance for some rain tomorrow morning but not betting on it to happen. Sure wish it would rain all day and night but that is like wishing to win the lottery and not buying a ticket. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Feeling a bit tired and blah this afternoon. It felt good to get the dryer project crossed off my list. Now if I can get the plumber out here and Tagen’s pickup running I will be good to go. I find it frustrating when people don’t do what they say they will do and don’t explain or update you when things change. I am a rather reasonable person when someone tells me what is going on. But when there is no communication I get cranky when things don’t go as they said they would.

I am getting a beef the middle of August. A few of my family and friends have claims on 1/2 of it. I no longer can use 1/2 of a beef a year. If anyone is interested in getting an 1/8 or 1/4 of it let me know and I can give you estimated pricing, etc. It is grass fed beef, born and raised on a Flint Hills ranch near me, and is some of the best eating beef you can get your hands on.

It was good to stay home all day today. Tomorrow I have to run into Cottonwood Falls but will be home otherwise. I do better when I have several days in a row when I get to stay home all day. Next week will be very full of people. Sure hoping I will be able to find a quiet corner somewhere on the cruise ship where I can enjoy looking at the ocean in peace and quiet.

Grateful the dryer was replaced today, grateful to be able to stay home all day today, and grateful the clutter in the house was decreased today.

Ellexia and I headed to Wichita this morning a little before 10:00. First stop was Best Buy to get my iPhone screen replaced. I had a very capable young lady waiting on me. She discovered it was the screen protector that had broken and not the actual iPhone screen. Wow! That saved me a lot of money. She took me to find a new screen protector and the right size Otterbox. Verizon had sold me the wrong size Otterbox.

She got me all fixed up and out of there in under 30 minutes. She even discovered the Otterbox price was cheaper on-line and reduced the price for me. She was amazing.

We found a Roku device for Ellexia’s TV so purchased that and then headed to Dick’s Sporting Goods which was right next door. Ellexia needed some new Crocs. They didn’t have her size and we didn’t find anything else we needed there.

We went to Chipotle for lunch. Ellexia had never eaten there before but she liked it.

We googled and found an Academy Sports store which was on our way to Costco. We saw a Barnes and Noble store on our way so stopped there and got Ellexia a book to read on the flight to LA. We then went to the Academy store and found a pair of Crocs for Ellexia.

Next up was Costco. We managed to fill our cart full and then headed home. I stopped at the garage in Cottonwood Falls but they hadn’t started working on Tagen’s truck yet. It was in the shop and next up to be looked at. He will call me when he finds out what is wrong with it.

Came home and unloaded the car. Ellexia and I are both shopped out. It was a successful trip though as Ellexia got both things she wanted, I got my iPhone fixed much cheaper than I had anticipated, and the Costco run for the month is done.

Tagen brought up 11 eggs today. He said he scared one of the chickens out of the nesting box and as they ran away to go outside they dropped an egg in the coop. He went inside the coop and picked it up. Talk about a fresh egg!

I am grateful to be home. Shopping wears me out! It was a relatively easy trip but I am exhausted. Grateful I get to stay home for the next three days.

There is a haze on the prairie today. We have had cloud cover all day but no rain. There is a chance for some rain overnight. It didn’t get as warm as the forecast predicted today. Only reached the mid 80’s. That is good for me! It is to be over 100 next week.

I don’t think it has hit me yet that Ellexia and I will be leaving on our cruising adventure Sunday. I need to get myself organized and get my head in the game. I’m sure it will be more fun then I am thinking it is going to be. Fingers crossed the weather will be good. If Ellexia is as good on the cruise as she was today, she will be fun to travel with.

The dryer is to be delivered tomorrow. I have extra laundry to do after it gets installed as I have been waiting to change linens on the bed until the new dryer gets here. It will be good to get that crossed off my list. Now to get the plumber to show up — his week is running out of days for him to show up.

Sitting in a good head space today. Feeling very blessed that I got a very helpful clerk at Best Buy that made that visit very easy for me, not to mention much cheaper than I had anticipated. The other clerks we had today were all helpful and fun to deal with.

Grateful the iPhone is fixed, grateful for the fun day with Ellexia, and grateful we had a safe trip.

I took Ellexia to town with me when I went this afternoon. I dropped Ellexia off at her friend’s house so she could have some play time while I got my haircut and ran my errands.

It is always a feel good day when I get my haircut. It was overdue and badly needed. After I got my haircut I stopped and had lunch and then headed to Walmart to pick up my grocery order.

I got the groceries loaded, filled the car with gas and then went and picked up Ellexia. We came home and got the car unloaded and everything put away.

I got a ham today and put that in the oven to heat for dinner tonight. The kiddos want green beans and cottage cheese with the ham so that will make an easy dinner.

Have a touch of a headache this afternoon and am tired. I think the heat is getting to me. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep again last night. I kept waking up and then struggled to find more sleep. Tagen was up at 6:00 this morning with tummy issues. He says he is feeling better now.

Tomorrow Ellexia and I are going to Wichita for the day. I have to be at Best Buy at 11:20 to drop my iPhone off to get it repaired. We will then go have lunch and do a big Costco shopping haul. We will probably stop at Target and then back to Best Buy to pick up my iPhone. Hopefully the repair will go smoothly and it won’t take all day.

No word from the plumber yet as to when he will make it out this week. Kathy will be around if he should show up tomorrow. Thursday the new dryer is to come and the loud, old one will be hauled away.

I’m hoping to be able to stay home Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It will be a very full and crowded week next week on the cruise so will need to leave on Sunday as full as I can let myself be. Ellexia is getting excited and I hope some of that excitement rubs off on me.

Tagen brought up 8 eggs today. Several looked like they were the first egg the chicken had laid. This heat is slowing them down a bit but still thinking we will be in the egg business again by the first of August.

Michelle is bringing home her little bitty dog Tank tonight. That should add some excitement and chaos to the house. Luckily he has a crate that he is used to being put in. Not sure how Kathy’s cat Louis and Tank will get along. We shall see how this plays out.

Feeling a bit blah this afternoon. I have managed to stay at the neutral level or just a bit above but barely. Maybe I am overdue to crash and burn one of these days soon. Sure would help if I could sleep well again. Wish I knew the magic formula to make that happen.

Grateful this weeks grocery order is done and put away, grateful for Tylenol that will help quiet my headache, and grateful dinner will be easy to put on the table tonight.

Not sure what I did today. I did make a trip to Cottonwood Falls and ran errands there. I dropped off two dozen eggs to one of my regular egg customers. I didn’t charge for them as they are so small but it was fun to show off all the different colored eggs.

I dumped a car load of recycling material in the trailer. The trailer was pretty full but I managed to stuff it all in.

I stopped and got some cheese for our dinner tonight at the Dollar General store. I made chicken and cheese quesadillas. Ellexia is going to be my dinner fixer helper. Tagen takes care of the dogs and chickens so Ellexia is going to help fix dinner every night when she is here. Tonight she shredded the cooked chicken using the hand mixer and buttered the tortillas.

I stopped at Dieker’s to check on the pickup. They were done with it so I paid for that bill. It was very reasonable for all they did to it. They replaced the battery, drained and replaced all the fluids in the truck, did an oil change and fixed the lug nuts on all the wheels. They checked out the brakes, etc. They are pushing it over to have Casey look at it as the truck dies when you shift gears. They think it may be a transmission vacuum hose leak. Who knew a transmission had a vacuum? Casey hopes to get to it on Wednesday. Hoping it is an easy fix and not too expensive.

Tagen was excited to hear the truck appears to be in fairly good working order. We shall see what Casey says Wednesday. It will be nice if it can be fixed so Tagen has wheels running while I am gone next week. If Casey can get it fixed Michelle will need to get it registered and get tags for it then Tagen will be good to go. If it isn’t running yet, I may have to have Kathy takes us to the airport and pick us up so Tagen can use my car next week.

Tagen brought up nine eggs from the girls – two were cracked so the dogs got to eat those. Won’t be long before we are getting over a dozen a day and closing in on two dozen a day. He used a bucket to bring the eggs up to the house today – he learned quick!

Tomorrow I told the kiddos I would take them to the pool in Cottonwood for the afternoon. It is to be pushing 100 tomorrow and will be a good day for them to swim. Tagen had weight lifting and conditioning training this morning but has an off day from that tomorrow.

I have to go to town tomorrow afternoon to get my haircut so am going to pick up a grocery order when I get done with that. That way I won’t have to make another trip to town on Thursday. Ellexia and I are going to Wichita Wednesday to get the screen replaced on my iPhone and to make a Costco run. We may have a few things to pick up for the cruise. We made our packing list today.

Thursday the new dryer is to be delivered and one day this week the plumber said he would come out. Fingers crossed both of those things will happen.

The thunderstorms went around us again this morning. It came within five miles of us but we didn’t get a bit of the nice rain. Sure wish we could get four or five inches to help fill the ponds. Many of the local ponds the ranchers use to water their cattle have gone dry this summer. Can’t believe it is time for the cattle to be pulled off the pastures already. Seems like they were just put out there a couple weeks ago.

Sitting in a good head space tonight. I am tired. I got more sleep than I had been getting last night but still am behind on my sleep. Maybe I will get another good night’s sleep tonight and get caught up.

Grateful to have eggs to share, fateful Ellexia is my dinner helper, and grateful the truck is almost drivable.

Nine eggs from the girls today. Tagen came up with his pockets and hands full. I suggested he start using a bucket to carry them up. We shall see if he listens. I can just see a pocket or two full of broken eggs in his future if he doesn’t start using a bucket to carry the eggs in.

I went out and painted for an hour or so. I worked on the black rod painting today. After dinner I may go back out and do another set or two of railing rods. It is the slow going type of painting. Sure looks nice when it is done, though.

Fixing hamburgers, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight. Michelle is going to town to pick Ellexia up and bring her out for the week. Kid approved menu tonight for sure.

We are in a severe thunderstorm watch for the evening. So far no clouds in the sky. Rain has been all around us again today but none here on the prairie where I am. Sure wish the east coast could ship their rain to us. They are getting too much and we don’t get enough. Kinda like a lot of things, I guess.

I finished my mowing yesterday. My eyes are still dumping out grass pieces. Mowing seems to really bother my eyes this year for some reason. The grasshoppers are still thick. We had a swarm of wood bees in the yard too. Hadn’t seen a swarm like that before.

A week from now Ellexia and I will be headed to the airport for our flight to LA and then the cruise. Since she will be here this week, we can talk about packing and what to take and what not to take. We won’t be checking a bag so will be traveling light.

The plumber and the dryer are to come this week. I know when the dryer will be arriving but not sure about the plumber yet. Wednesday I am spending most of the day in Wichita getting my iPhone screen replaced. No other plans for the coming week. I will need to do a few things to get things ready to be gone. Luckily I have built-in house sitters this time.

I had trouble falling asleep last night. Finally remembered I had forgotten to take my nightly pills which include the sleep aid. I got up and took them and sat up for about an hour and then was able to go to sleep. I didn’t sleep as much as I would like to since I didn’t go to sleep until 5:00 this morning. I hate sleeping all morning so got up around 9:30, which is later than I like to get up.

I told Kathy today that between us we have one good brain. She forgot to put something away after she had her lunch. Good thing we work well together and can remind each other when the other forgets something.

I’m not as cranky as I was yesterday but not fully back to where I want to be either. It has been a quiet day at home which is what I needed. I hope I don’t have to go to town until I go to Wichita on Wednesday. I will do a grocery order to pick up Thursday sometime. I’ll have to think about this order as it will have to get the kiddos through until I get home from the cruise. At least Ellexia will be with me and won’t be hitting the snacks at home.

Grateful some more painting got done, grateful for 9 eggs from the girls today, and grateful Tagen loves doing chicken chores.

Tagen brought up 6 eggs today. I need to get rid of two dozen pullet eggs. They are smaller than normal but a few have double yolks. Any takers?

I went out and mowed the front half of the yard today. Need to go back out and finish but got hot and needed to come in and cool off. I’ll go back out in a bit and finish it up. With the rain we got the other day, the grass decided to grow again.

Tagen went to his dad’s mother’s house today so the house is quiet. He won’t be home until late evening so I feel like I have a day off today. Not sure if Ellexia will be coming out for the week tomorrow or not. Things are a bit dicey right now and we aren’t on a regular, predictable routine yet. Hoping that can get set early next week.

Tagen took my car today so I am staying home the rest of the day. Didn’t have anywhere I needed to go anyways so no worries. Hoping his pickup will get taken care of next week, but we shall see.

The plumber is to come out one day next week and install the new faucet and fix the water line to the refrigerator. We shall see if he comes.

I go to Wichita to get my iPhone screen replaced on Wednesday. While in Wichita, I will go to Costco and replenish my snack supply for the kiddos.

The new dryer is coming Thursday afternoon. The old one sounds like an airplane taking off when it runs. Not sure what is wrong with it but it sure sounds sick. Decided to order a new one and get it replaced before it totally stops working. Hoping it will continue to work for five more days.

The friend from CA that I met on the Camino called today. Always fun to catch up with her. She has gained a new grandson since last I talked to her and has twin grandchildren on the way that will be born late July. I have lost count have many grandchildren and great-grandchildren she has now. She had 12 children so the numbers add up quickly.

Feeling a bit out of sorts today. Not much energy and a bit cranky. Nothing really to cause it. Doing my best to allow it to be what it is without a story behind it and allowing it to come up and flow out. I might go take a nap and see if that helps. I feel a tad tired today and almost like I am hungover. I didn’t get the fun of getting drunk though.

I ordered some furnace filters so I can replace my own. Right now the heating and air guy does it when he services my units twice a year. He charges $40 per filter and I can get two for $38 on-line. The only problem is, I can’t find where the filter is at on my unit. Kathy and I both looked and couldn’t find it. Next time someone I think might know about these things comes over, I will take them downstairs and have them show me how to change it myself. The filters are the 4” thick ones that are expensive.

Ellexia and I leave on our big cruising adventure a week from tomorrow. It will be good for her to get away and have some fun days. She has never flown before so is excited about that. Trusting the cruise will be everything she wants it to be.

Grateful for the increase in number of eggs I am getting, grateful for a quiet day at home, and grateful half the mowing is done.

Waiting on the rain to arrive on the prairie. We have a good chance for some soon. I can hear the thunder start to roll across the prairie and am starting to see a bit of lightning. Come on rain. Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

Kathy and I went with a friend to Florence for lunch today. It was good to get out of the house and do something fun. We all enjoyed it and need to do it again soon!

I haven’t gotten anything else done today. Tagen did the chicken chores just a bit ago so he could get them done before the rain comes. He brought up a beautiful, dark brown egg. I’ve never had a chicken lay one that dark before. He only brought up four today. Still waiting on the first day where he gets a dozen in one trip and has to use a bucket instead of hand carrying them. Maybe next week?

I cancelled the trip to Wichita today as the Best Buy person called me last night and told me it would take two to four hours to do the repair. I didn’t realize it would take that long and it reminded me that last time I took my phone to get the battery replaced it took even longer. They had broken a part on the phone and needed my permission to proceed. They texted me to get permission but they had my phone! I rescheduled for next week when I can drop off my phone and then go to lunch and Costco and then hopefully when I get back to the store they will be done.

It will be a quiet weekend around here. May try to move some things but not sure where we are yet. Thing are proceeding but not final yet and are getting a bit dicey. Patience will win the game!

I have some hamburger thawing for dinner tonight. Since it cooled off I can turn the oven on and I am going to make a Frito Pie for dinner. It used to be a favorite for my kids when they were little. I’ll see if it gets Tagen’s approval.

Got a note from the lady I buy beef from every year. Good news for her is that beef prices are high this year due to the drought. I’ll have to do some figuring and see who is in and who isn’t this year. Still beats grocery store prices and the beef is so much better. I will only keep a quarter or so this year as I don’t have many to feed usually. I can only eat so much hamburger now. I always feel rich when my freezer is full of beef.

Feeling a bit restless and nervous this afternoon. Not sure what that is about. Things have been apple cart upset around here for the last month and sometimes it takes me a while to let the energy pass through me. The thunderstorm rolling in seems to add to my nervousness although I am not afraid of storms. We shall see where this all goes.

Grateful for a lunch out with Kathy and a friend, grateful for beef coming to my freezer in August, and grateful for the rain the prairie is about to receive.

Tagen and I put Ellie, the fat cat, in the laundry room last night so we could catch her easily for her spa day at the vet today. I got up at 7:00 and put her in the carrier so Michelle could take her in. Ellie complained most of the night about being shut inside all night.

I picked her up at 4:00 this afternoon. They shaved her all over except for her head and tip of her tail. I told them I hope she doesn’t die like the last one I had shaved. They told me her hair should start growing in within a week and be fully back within a month. That never happened with the other one so am wondering what happened. The other one must have been sick. Ellie told me all about her spa visit on the way home and I don’t think she was impressed with her new look.

I stopped at Walmart and picked up a prescription while I was in town. I also stopped at Dillon’s and picked up some more fruit snacks. I had forgotten to order those and the kiddos were all but out. I picked up Ellie and came home.

I haven’t done much else today. It is too hot to go outside. Tagen did the chicken chores and brought up three eggs. I have gotten my second dozen from this group now. The bowl full of eggs on the counter is so pretty. The eggs range in color from blue/green to light brown to a light rose color.

I price shopped propane today thanks to help from my neighbor. When I called the company I get propane from and told them the price I could get if I switched suppliers, they met the new price. It will save me $140 on my contract price. The other company is to send me something in writing that has the price and I take that in to my company and presto – they write out a new contract which will save me $140. That was easy!

I sent a text to my plumber and asked if there was any way they could come out next week and install the new kitchen faucet and fix the refrigerator water line. They said no problem they will be here. Ummm….., do I bet on that? This issue has been ongoing since late March. Maybe they will be here? Maybe not?

I’m grilling hot dogs for dinner tonight and warming up some left over cheesy potatoes. That will be quick and easy. I will probably bring home a whole roasted chicken from Costco tomorrow night and call that dinner. I’m on a quick and easy roll! It is too hot to do much cooking or to turn on the oven.

Tomorrow I am going to Wichita to get the screen replaced on my iPhone at Best Buy and then making a quick stop at Costco. It will be good to get away for the day.

No plans for the weekend. We haven’t gotten any more moving done so hoping we might be able to get another couple of loads this weekend but we shall see.

Sitting in a good head space. Realizing the lessons I learned last year are being used now. It is interesting to see things from a different perspective and understand what happened last year. I’m grateful I learned what I did as it has been helpful now.

Grateful Ellie is back home styling a new look, grateful for the propane price drop thanks to my neighbors, and grateful for life lessons (easier done after the lesson is over).

This has felt like a hectic day but I’m not sure why. I had trouble with my Walmart grocery order. The first order I placed last week was put on delay. Not sure what that meant but I couldn’t add items to it. I finally started a second order to be picked up at the same time. Since the delay was still on today, I cancelled the order and added the things that were on that order to the other order. Only problem being once I cancelled the order, the order disappeared and I had trouble remembering what I had ordered. Not sure what I missed yet.

Tagen and I went to Cottonwood Falls to meet the tow truck that was bringing his pickup to Dieker’s. We got to Dieker’s just as the tow truck got there. Cody and BJ are going to give the pickup the once over and see that it is safe to drive. It has been parked for two years so needs new fluids, etc. Fingers crossed it won’t cost too much to fix up.

Then Tagen and I went to Emporia to run errands. We stopped and picked up the grocery order. I remembered to take a cooler for the cold stuff as we had other things to do after we picked up the order.

I stopped and got gas and was going to buy a bag of ice to put in the cooler but the station we stopped at didn’t sell ice. I forgot about stopping somewhere else to get some but the ice cream was still frozen when we got home so all was good.

Went to Tim’s house and dropped off the form that Tim needs to sign and get notarized so I can take Ellexia on our trip. Good to get that dropped off and that process started. I have one ready for Michelle to sign and get notarized too.

Tagen had to return some work shirts so we got that taken care of and then we picked up his girlfriend and came home. We were both glad to get back home and away from people.

The girls gave us four eggs today. One was a green/blue color and it came from one of the Easter Eggers. Yay! He only brought up four eggs today but it is a good sign that the Easter Eggers are laying now too. More eggs daily will be coming soon!

Got all the groceries put away. Some things I got double on and not sure why but oh well. Hoping I didn’t forget something I need before I can get back to town another day.

Michelle will be bringing Ellexia home with her tonight for dinner and then will have to take her back to town by 8:30. I have spaghetti and meat balls cooking in the crock pot so dinner will be quick and easy to serve. Just need to cook the spaghetti noodles and it will be ready.

The heating and air guy came today to do the check on the air conditioning unit. Everything looked good which was good. I had replaced the unit last year so didn’t expect bad news today.

Tomorrow Ellie, the fat cat, has to be in town by 8:30. I think either Michelle will take her or Tagen will as Michelle has to be at work by 8:00 and Tagen has weight lifting at 8:00. Ellie will need picked up at 4:00 so I will run to town to get her then. I need to remember to catch Ellie and put her in the laundry room tonight so we can catch her easily in the morning. She can’t have any food after 10:00 tonight and this way I can ensure that happens. If she stays outside I can’t control what and when she eats.

Friday I am going to Wichita to get my iPhone screen replaced and to make a quick stop at Costco. I need to restock snacks for the kiddos. A friend and Kathy are going with me so it will be a fun outing. I need a day away.

No plans for the weekend and most of next week. I need to start getting serious about the cruise and making my packing list. It is only 10 days away. I’m grateful Kathy and Tagen will be here to do chores for me. I won’t have to find a housesitter this trip.

This month is sure going by quickly. I can’t believe over half the year is over already. Not sure what I do these days but time sure seems to have sped up and go by all too quickly.

Still sitting in a good head space although my short term memory is acting a bit weird. I’m not sure what is causing that problem. I have to remind myself to slow down and make sure I turn off burners, etc. I made the wrong turn in Emporia today as I wasn’t paying attention. Hoping this is a stress reaction and not something else going on.

Grateful the pickup is at Dieker’s, grateful the errands got done and no one was harmed, and grateful for a blue/green shelled egg today.

I had another hard job of finding sleep last night. I finally fell asleep around 4:30 this morning. I really have come to dislike nights like that.

I gathered trash to take to the curb for pickup tomorrow. I had to use two carts to get it all down to the curb. At our next family meeting I need to teach the others how to recycle and see if that reduces the amount of trash we are generating.

I went down with Tagen to do chickens today. I hadn’t been down to see them for a couple of days. I had bought a whole watermelon for them and I needed to show Tagen how to throw it on the ground so it will break open. Watermelon helps keep the chickens hydrated when it is so hot outside. I ordered another one on my grocery order for this week. May need to make it two as the hot weather is headed our way and is going to stay awhile. We only got two eggs today so no more layers yet.

I got Ellexia and I checked in for our cruise. Their website was having issues and it took a couple of tries to get all the information to them they wanted. I need to type up a letter to have Tim and Michelle sign giving me permission to travel with Ellexia and giving me medical power of attorney for the time we will be gone. They both need to sign it and have it notarized.

Tagen went in and lifted weights this morning. He is having to use my car as his is not working and we haven’t gotten the pickup fixed yet either. Tim is hoping to get the wheels and tires on it today or tomorrow so we can get it towed and this process started.

I am fixing chicken strips and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. They are one of Tagen’s favorites and I am guessing will be a weekly menu item while he is here. They are easy to fix so I am good with that.

Tomorrow night we are having spaghetti and meat balls which is a request from Ellexia. She will be here for dinner only tomorrow night. That is another menu item that I get to fix weekly for the kiddos.

I love fixing dinner for them as long as I know what to serve. Every night at dinner I ask them to tell me what they want the next night. Once that decision is made, the rest is easy.

I need to go to Emporia tomorrow to pick up my grocery order. The Walmart website was having issues and wouldn’t let me add things to my order today. I had to create a second order that I will pick up at the same time. I hope this workaround works. First time I have had trouble with the website.

No plans for the weekend. Hoping to get lots of loads hauled to the barn. This weekend will be a bit cooler than the forecast after that so would like to take advantage of that and get some things moved for Michelle. We shall see what happens.

Sitting in a good head space. Sure wishing I could figure out why my sleep is an issue again. I got used to sleeping well and am not handling this not sleeping thing well. I bet it is due to my schedule and routine change but not sure if there is something else behind it too.

Grateful I finally got some sleep last night, grateful I know what I am fixing for dinner tonight and tomorrow night, and grateful Ellexia and I are checked in for our cruise.

Tagen, Ellexia and I went to town today to take care of lots of errands. Tagen needed to stop at the bank and get some cash and then stop and give someone some cash he owed them.

I got the two propane tanks exchanged for full ones. Stopped and had a blood draw and then stopped and got a gallon of milk and some ice.

We dropped Ellexia off at her house in town and came home.

We stopped at home and put the ice and milk away and picked up a gas can. Then we headed into Cottonwood Falls to go to Dieker’s to fill the gas container and talk to BJ or Cody.

Cody was available so we talked to him about Tagen’s pickup. Cody said we could have the pickup towed to them and they will give it the once over and see if they can get it running and to make sure it is safe to drive. What a relief that they can do that for us. I wasn’t sure where to take it and I trust them.

Once they get done with the pickup we will have to get the truck insured and tagged and then Tagen will have wheels again. His Mustang isn’t running safely now and he keeps dumping money into it and then something else goes wrong. Hoping the pickup will be fairly reasonable to get up and running and then will last him a couple of years until he gets through school and can get a job and buy a newer vehicle. The pickup is a 1987 which makes it a bit easier to work on.

Finally came home and stayed home. It is another warm day on the prairie with temperatures pushing 90.

Tagen did chicken chores and brought up three eggs. Keep thinking the other chickens will start laying soon but they aren’t moving too fast yet.

Got the TSH results back and they were 1.7. Getting a bit low but not as low as I thought they would be. I will see if the Endrocrinologist wants me to continue on the dose I am on or if we drop the dosage a bit. I will need a refill either way so hoping they get back to me sooner rather than later.

Don’t have an abundance of energy to do much today. Guess it is a quiet day after the busy day yesterday. Maybe tomorrow Tagen and I can go to town and pick up another car full of stuff to bring out.

I am grilling hamburgers for dinner and fixing a side of macaroni and cheese. That will be easy!

I went on-line and booked an appointment with Best Buy in Wichita to get the screen on my iPhone replaced. I am going Friday. Kathy and a friend are going with me. We will stop and have lunch, get my iPhone fixed and then make a stop at Costco. I will look forward to Friday all week. I need a day away.

Wednesday the heating and air guy is coming to do the summer check on the A/C. They must be very busy as it is a bit late in the season to make sure the unit is running OK.

Thursday I have to have Ellie in town by 8:00. She is getting shaved to get rid of the nasty knots in her fur. She is so fat she can’t groom herself properly. I will have to go back to town around 4:00 to pick her up.

Feeling a bit tired and restless this afternoon. Things seem to be getting resolved, slowly but surely so not sure why I feel so restless. Patience is not my strong suit and several things that need finished up are waiting for someone else to do something before I can finish them up. I need to find something to keep me busy and forget about a few things for a bit while I am patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for others to do their thing.

Grateful for Dieker’s and their honest, reliable service, grateful my TSH wasn’t as low as I thought it might be, and grateful for getting all the errands taken care of.

Family day was great fun. We celebrated Jason’s birthday and ate too much good food. These are my favorite type of days.

The kids all went to Emporia and helped Michelle and Tagen fill two cars full of stuff from the house in Emporia. I stayed home and took a break from helping load things. From what I heard, it went fast. Michelle, Tagen and his girlfriend got it all unloaded in the barn when they came back home.

I got up at 5:30 again this morning and could not fall back asleep. I got up at 6:00 and started my day. I am really tired tonight and trusting I will sleep well tonight. I am getting desperate for a good night’s sleep.

Ellexia is spending one more night here and then I will take her to town when I go to town tomorrow. Tagen has some errands to run and I have some to do so we will all head to town early afternoon and get things taken care of.

I need to find a good mechanic to give Tagen’s pickup the once over and let us know if anything needs fixed. Anyone have a suggestion as to who I should use? I haven’t had to do something like that for a long time and have no clue where to start. The truck has been sitting for a couple of years. It ran well before it sat so hoping nothing went bad while it sat. Does Dieker’s do that type of thing? I totally trust them.

Ellexia and I only have two weeks to go before we fly to LA and then go on our cruise. Time to start making a packing list and getting things lined up. Good thing Tagen is doing the chicken chores for me. I know they will be well taken care of while I am gone.

I fixed the kiddos pancakes and scrambled eggs for dinner. Ellexia cracked the eggs for me. The first one she cracked was a double yoke egg. Tagen had brought up a normal size egg today and that was the double yoke one. I used up all the eggs I have gotten so far. We should soon start to get more than two or three a day and the eggs will gradually get to be full sized. By the first of August we should be back in the egg selling business.

This momma’s heart is full of gratitude tonight. Spending a day with all the kids is a treat for me. I needed a fun day and today fit the bill.

Grateful all the kids came home today, grateful two more loads have been taken care of, and grateful for double yoked chicken eggs.

Happy birthday to my son Jason. What a delightful man he has become. I love spending time with him and his family. His path through life has been full of potholes and challenges but he has overcome them to find a career that he loves and a family he loves even more.

I am cranky today. Not sure why but everything seems hard today. I am putting myself in time-out for the rest of the day. Maybe I can make it through the rest of the day without injury to self or others.

Went to Emporia with Michelle. She met a realtor to show her house to. We stopped at Walmart and I picked up some milk and a few other things and then came home.

I have one dessert made for tomorrow and another one started. I will get it finished up soon and then bake a cake and I will be ready for tomorrow. I still need to do some cleaning but that is going to wait until things go easy for me.

Tagen brought up two eggs today. I have gotten my first dozen eggs from this group. Tagen was disappointed that there were only two eggs today. Maybe we will get four tomorrow?

I have a chicken cooking in the crock pot for dinner. I’ll have to come up with something to serve with it but dinner should go together easily.

It sure looked like it was going to rain this morning. I kept checking radar and it didn’t show anything. The clouds are moving on out now and we don’t have a promise of any rain for a day or two.

I might go out and paint for an hour or two. I’m almost afraid to get close to an open can of paint though, as nothing has been easy about this day.

Some days are like this. I am tired as I didn’t sleep well again last night. I think the stress of the last couple of weeks has caught up with me and I need a day to let my body, mind and spirit catch up to each other. Usually when I have a hard day like today, the next day is easy.

Family day tomorrow so it will be a good day. The kiddos are looking forward to it too. Good food, good company and lots of love and laughter.

Monday I need to go to town and have a blood draw. I will take the propane bottles and get them exchanged and take the gas containers for the mower so I can get those filled. Tagen and I will probably try to get another car load of stuff from Michelle’s house to bring out. We have got to get the house emptied out as much as possible so it can show better. Both Tagen and I were too tired today to get a load.

Grateful for a rest day today, grateful tomorrow will be family day, and grateful I haven’t injured myself or someone else today.

This day hasn’t gone as planned but it was a good thing. Court was cancelled as a settlement was reached. Still have some kinks to work out but overall things are headed to a close early next week.

Michelle, Tagen and I went to Emporia and filled my car and her car with more stuff. Michelle had to go to work but Tagen and I brought my car load home. The low tire pressure light came on so took my car to Dieker’s in Cottonwood Falls on the way home. Tagen and I went to the Grand and had lunch while the tire was repaired. The car was ready for us when we were done with lunch. That was easy!

We came home and unloaded my car and then went back for a second load. Kathy came in too this time and we filled both cars full of stuff. Got both cars unloaded when we got home.

Tagen did chicken chores and brought up three eggs today. 10 eggs and counting so far. Go girls!

I went out last night and finished painting the floor of the west side deck. I got the step landing painted too. Only have some railing painting to do and a little bit of ladder work painting to do and the back deck will be done! I still have the two east side decks to paint but those won’t require a ladder and aren’t near as big as the back deck.

I had gotten a pair of strap on knee pads a while ago. They sure helped keep my knees from getting blistered but they are way too big. I made the straps as short as possible and they were still too loose. They need to make knee pads in smaller sizes.

Ellexia will be coming home with Michelle tonight and will be here all weekend. I think we are going to try to get some more stuff moved tomorrow but not sure yet. Michelle will be busy sorting what we brought today if not.

I didn’t get any of my errands taken care of either time I was in Emporia today. I kinda forgot about them until I got home the second time and didn’t want to go back to town the third time today. I will take care of them early next week or tomorrow.

I have some little smokies in BBQ sauce in the crock pot for dinner. I will fix some more of the corn on the cob to go with it and call it dinner. I had forgotten to lay anything else out to fix and had the little smokies and they needed to get used.

Next week will be busy with moving more stuff and helping with some packing. I’m grateful things are going to proceed and get finalized and now plans for the future can be made. Still have a few moving parts to work through but forward progress is being made.

Tagen was a trooper again today and carried some heavy totes full of stuff up the stairs like the totes didn’t weigh anything. Not sure we would be as far along with this move without his strong muscles and help. Kathy pitched in again and help fill and unload her car with boxes.

Looking forward to Sunday and family day. It will be good to take a day of rest with the family and have a fun day together. Lots to celebrate Sunday.

Sitting in a good head space today. I have been surprised I have been able to handle all the chaos without getting triggered. So far, so good. I will need to take a day or two next week and practice some good self-care so I can remain grounded and centered.

Grateful for Tagen and Kathy’s help today, grateful three more loads have been hauled, and grateful a settlement was reached.

I feel like I have had a day off today. Tagen went to Emporia for the day and won’t be home for dinner. Ellexia is back with her daddy so it is just Kathy and I in the house this afternoon. I remember what this is like!

I paid a few bills, renewed my car registration, and paid for the trip to Europe today. The website for the travel company wasn’t working very well so will have to check tomorrow to see if the payment went through.

I cleaned the BBQ grill this afternoon. That was a dirty, nasty job that was way overdue to be done. I should have better results grilling now. The last two times I have attempted to grill, it didn’t go well as there was too much built up grease and it kept catching fire. Amazing how much better a clean grill cooks.

I was going to go to town to run some errands today but decided to stay home and take advantage of a quiet day alone at home. They seem to be rare days now.

Tagen did the chicken chores for me before he left for town. Bless his heart, he has fallen in love with my chickens and loves gathering eggs. He brought two more eggs up today. They are the same color as the other ones we have been getting so thinking only two are laying so far. I’m hoping the other girls will get with it soon. 7 eggs and counting so far.

I took morning pills at bedtime last night instead of evening pills. Figured it out this morning. I fell asleep pretty quickly last night but I woke up at 5:40 this morning and couldn’t sleep any more. Since I took morning pills I didn’t take a sleeping aide. I struggle now to get by on only four hours of sleep. I did that for years and am wondering how I did it.

We got a break from the heat today. It is only in the 80’s today. Feels more like early June than July. I trust we will get some more rain this week. We still are very dry and need several inches at once to help fill the ponds.

I need to go to Emporia tomorrow to go with Michelle to court. I will take care of some errands while I am in town. I need to trade my small propane tank for a filled one and I need to fill my gas containers so I can mow again. I also need to get a gift for a friend of mine that had surgery today.

Saturday I need to clean house as I am hosting family day on Sunday. I will also make two desserts as that is my part of the meal we are having. So looking forward to having everyone home for the day.

Nest week I need to have a blood draw to check my TSH levels. I also will be taking Ellie, the cat, to the vet to get shaved. She is too fat to properly groom herself. I also want to go to Wichita or Topeka and get my phone screen replaced. We shall see what else the week ahead brings.

Sitting with a bit of amazement today. I realized that if Jim hadn’t left the house, I wouldn’t have been able to offer Michelle and the kiddos shelter from the storm they are in. The Universe does have a bigger plan than I can imagine. Learning to trust the Universe and accept the path that I am on is finally kicking in for me.

Grateful for this empty space this afternoon, grateful Tagen loves the chickens and likes caring for them, and grateful for the plan the Universe has for me (and for you)!

Mother Nature put on quite the fireworks show last night. The kiddos were getting ready to shoot their’s off and the wind came up and it was put on hold. The wind finally slowed down and they were able to shoot some fireworks off. We had a small grass fire from one of them. I grabbed the hose and Kathy got a pitcher of water and we got it out before it got away from us.

We sat out and watched the storm clouds for the longest time. The clouds were beautiful and the lightning was a show in and of itself. We finally got some good rain around midnight. It rained off and on all night. Guessing we got about 1.5 inches but not sure. We have good chances for more rain throughout the rest of the week and into the weekend. I will take every drop we can get.

We watched all the fireworks going off in all directions from my house. It was a wonderful night to sit out and enjoy all the bright exploding colors in the sky. I like fireworks from a distance and got tired of hearing the pops and booms that were part of them.

The kiddos slept in this morning. We had a late night last night watching the storms roll in. I don’t think I made breakfast for Ellexia until 11:00 or so. Tagen had cereal and Ellexia had pancakes and scrambled eggs. Tagen had a cheese quesadilla for lunch followed by a strawberry/banana smoothie. Lex had a cucumber for her afternoon snack. Whatever I guess!

I had a phone conference at 1:00 today. I think it went well. We shall see.

I went to town this afternoon and picked up my grocery order. My baby brother Keith met us at Walmart and gave us a big sack of green beans and a sack of corn. We had the corn for dinner and it was delicious.

The kiddos helped me unload the car when we got home and I managed to find a place for everything. The refrigerator is full! Not used to buying three gallons of milk a week.

I fixed chicken strips, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and green beans for dinner. Ellexia peeled the potatoes for me. She did a great job. Kathy joined us tonight and all seemed to enjoy the meal. Kathy and I commented that is was the type of meal Mom used to fix every night when we were growing up.

Tagen did chicken chores for me today and brought up two more eggs. We got the hose changed out. One section of the one I had been using had a leak in it and when I would forget to turn the water off, I was wasting water watering weeds. Now if I forget to turn it off, no worries. Tagen said he would take over doing chicken chores for me while he is here. Wonder if he is including the job of cleaning out the coop in his offer to take over chicken chores?

I didn’t get the appointment made to go to Best Buy tomorrow to replace my iPhone screen. I need a quiet day at home instead. I will do it next week.

Friday morning I am going someplace with Michelle. Fingers crossed it will go smoothly if it doesn’t get cancelled. Still holding out hope that a settlement will be reached and things will work out the way that is best for all.

Sunday is family day. We decided to have it at my house as the forecast is a bit shaky. My job for the meal is to fix the dessert. That will be easy. Everyone is bringing the rest of the meal. I am looking forward to it.

Grateful for the corn on the cob and green beans my brother shared with us, grateful for the rain on the prairie last night, and grateful the grocery order for the week is put away.

We had a beautiful evening last night sitting outside watching fireworks. I think the rising of the full orange super moon was the best show in the sky last night. The kiddos had never watched the full moon rising before. It was a delight to introduce them to it. We saw fireworks going off in all directions in the distant. It cooled down and was a wonderful evening to sit outside and enjoy all Mother Nature has to offer.

We came in and the kiddos had s’mores. We watched the fireworks that Cottonwood Falls put on from inside while the kiddos ate their s’mores.

I have done three loads of laundry today and have one more to do. I changed the linens on Tagen’s bed and need to do the same for my bed.

I got my first egg yesterday. Tagen had gone down with me and was pleased with himself that he found it. We got two more today. So far the three eggs we have gotten are a light brown, almost pink color. They must be from the Leghorn breed. I’m anxious to see what color the Easter Eggers will be laying. They are very small but have a yolk in them so they aren’t fairy eggs. They will gradually get bigger over the next two weeks or so. It won’t be long before I’ll be getting two dozen a day, if not more. Go girls! Chicken chores will be fun again.

Tomorrow I have a phone meeting at noon and then I have to go to Emporia and pick up my big grocery order. It will take me a bit to get it all put away when I get home. My grocery bill has doubled with the additional bodies in the house.

Thursday I may go to Topeka or Wichita and go to Best Buy and get the screen replaced on my iPhone. It has a chip and crack in it and I want to get it replaced before it becomes unusable.

Friday I have a thing to attend with Michelle in Emporia in the late morning. Nothing on the calendar for Saturday. Sunday we are having a family day at either the park in Cottonwood Falls or at my house, depending on the weather. If it rains or is to hot we will move it to my house. Craig and Nancy are coming up from Wichita, Nicole and Geoff are coming down from KC, Jason and Melissa will come out from Emporia and Michelle and the gang will be here. I love family days!

I am fixing hot dogs for dinner tonight. We have some leftover Macaroni and Cheese from last night so the kids will get a second chance to eat it up. Dinner will be easy to fix tonight!

I went to Cottonwood Falls this afternoon to dump recycling and to get two Hershey bars for s’mores tonight. I also mailed two checks to get the guttering job absolutely completed. It felt so good to cross off the guttering project from my pending list and to get the last thing between Jim and I resolved.

It has reached 96 so far today and I won’t be surprised if it climbs a bit higher before the day is over. Dang! It is hot outside. I don’t do well in this hot weather. The chickens looked hot this afternoon when we went down to gather eggs and give them fresh water. I trust they will be able to survive this heat.

Still adjusting to the change in my lifestyle with the extras in the house. So far, so good. I like fixing food so it is fun to fix three meals a day. The dishwasher, washing machine and dryer are all getting extra work. The kiddos seem to be easing into living here and we are establishing some ground rules. Luckily they are both old enough to be fairly self-sufficient and are helpful most of the time.

Grateful for the eggs my chickens are producing, grateful for being able to introduce my kiddos to the beauty of the full moon rising, and grateful for air conditioning and a nice cool house to live in.

Five of us gathered and practiced Tonglen last night. All had practiced before so we were able to go deep and get right to it without instructions. It was a powerful evening. We held it inside last night as it was a touch warm outside. My house was blessed by the practice.

It has been a lazy day on the prairie today. None of us have much energy to do much and three of us slept in after having trouble falling asleep. I think the magic of the full moon did its thing last night on all of us!

I went to Emporia around noon. The road construction is back and I had to wait about 20 minutes in line. I took the back roads home.

I dropped off a car load of things at the Salvation Army that Michelle wanted gone. I then went to Bobby D’s and had lunch. I stopped at Bluestem and purchased 200 pounds of chicken feed. The girls are graduating to Egg Layer Feed instead of Start and Grow. Eggs will be coming very soon. I then stopped and deposited a check at the ATM. I was glad to get home after all of that.

I got the bill for the guttering repair in the mail today. I wrote out a check to pay for it and a check to settle the difference I owed Jim. This little project has been on my pending list for over six months and it felt very good to finally get to cross it off my list.

I am fixing a meal loaf and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight. Ellexia will be joining us for the next couple of days. When I asked the kids what kind of food they wanted me to fix she said the meat with sauce on top of it. I finally figured out that is what she calls meat loaf. We may have renamed it around here! Ha!

If I remember I will remind the kiddos to sit out on the back deck to watch the Cottonwood Falls fireworks tonight. I also want to go out and watch the full moon rising. It will be a magic night on the prairie tonight.

I called and ordered a fill for the propane tank. We had a late, cold spring this year and I won’t have enough propane to get me through till first fill in late October. I got my contract for next year and I need to price chop this year and see if I can find a better price with a different company.

We don’t have any Fourth of July plans for tomorrow. We didn’t buy any fireworks this year. They aren’t my favorite thing to do and it feels like a waste of money to buy any. It is to be a bit cooler tomorrow so may get out and paint some. If all five of us paint on it I bet we could get the back deck done.

I need to get the glass on my iPhone replaced. I may go to Best Buy this Thursday and get that done. I am disappointed in the Otter Box that I have on it. It doesn’t fit correctly and didn’t prevent the glass from chipping in one corner. I will see if they have a better case for it while I am getting it repaired.

Sitting in a good head space today. Last night Tonglen was just what I needed. I didn’t get frustrated with the wait for the construction zone or other customers in the stores today. I feel grounded and a step or two above the neutral level on the consciousness ladder. That is a good space to live life from.

Grateful my errands are done, grateful the guttering project is complete, and grateful the chickens food supply is well stocked.

I took a quiet day today. I fixed breakfast for Tagen and then he went to his other grandmother’s house for the day. It has been quiet in the house today without him here.

I went out and finished up the mowing. I need to remember to fill my gas containers for the next mow as I am out of gas. If we don’t get any rain I won’t have to mow for a long time. The outer edges of the yard are burned up and even the inner edges are dry.

I did two loads of laundry and got them folded and put away. I seem to be doing more laundry these days. I have always enjoyed doing laundry so don’t mind having a bit more to do.

The wedding last night was beautiful. I wish Dean and Brittani a life time together of love and happiness. It was a good day for this momma to get to spend time with all three of my kiddos. Those are my favorite type of days.

I started a new grocery order that I will pick up Wednesday. Most of the things on the order are things Tagen likes to eat/drink. I am learning more about what he likes and what to fix for dinner each night. He is easy to please and fix for.

Monday I need to go to Emporia to deposit a check, drop off a bunch of donations at the Salvation Army Thrift Store and then pick up a load of chicken feed. I may try to get some more things of Michelles if I have room in my car for them. I’m grateful I have a car that has lots of back space to carry boxes and things in. My old Prius would not have been very helpful.

I started a packing list for the cruise. I found some small sunscreen containers that I am ordering from Walmart with my grocery order. Since I won’t be checking a bag I have to find some that are less than 3 ounces per container. I also found some sunburn lotion to take with us. My past experience at beach towns tells me they charge a lot for those products if you wait to buy them when you need it. I don’t want to run out with three full days in the sun planned.

Since Tagen is gone today I won’t have to fix dinner tonight. I will have to find myself something later to eat. It is nice to have a day off from cooking. We ate out last night so I got two nights of cooking off this weekend. What a deal!

I have another Tonglen practice scheduled for tonight. I hope someone shows up to practice with me. If not, Kathy and I will do it ourselves.

Feeling a bit restless today for some reason. I need to get a few things on my calendar for me to do. I have all next week wide open and that can feel a bit lonely and overwhelming to me. I do better when I have something planned for the week.

Grateful for a quiet day at home, grateful for the time with my kiddos and family last night, and grateful the mowing is done for a bit.

Got my mowing done today except for one last part. It got too windy and too much grass was blowing in my eyes so I had to quit. I will get out in the morning and finish it up. The ground is really dry and the grass has burned up in a lot of spots on the yard.

This afternoon Kathy, Michelle and Tagen and I drove to Lawrence to go to my nephew’s wedding. They had a nice crowd and the wedding was beautiful. Good to see my brother Keith and his wife and family.

There was about an hour between the wedding and the reception. All three of my kids came to the wedding so we decided to go to a tavern and get a drink before the reception. Once we got to the tavern we decided to go ahead and order dinner and eat there. It was a special treat for this momma to get a surprise family day. I’m so grateful all three kids went to the wedding and we got to have a family meal together.

We drove home after we ate and didn’t go to the reception. The weather was getting a bit dicey and I wanted to get home. We drove through some heavy rain for just a bit between Topeka and Emporia. We got sprinkled on as we were walking to our car after dinner.

As we were getting close to my house we saw a beautiful double rainbow to the south and then Kathy spotted a sun dog to the west. Mother Nature put on a beautiful show for us this evening.

Not sure if we got any rain here at the house before we got home. Michelle’s car was sitting out and it was still dusty although it looked like it may have gotten sprinkled on. Dang. Close to the rain again but no cigar.

Tomorrow night I have another Tonglen practice. Never know if anyone is going to show up or not. We shall see. Other than that I don’t have anything on my calendar for the rest of the week. I’m sure it will be busier than it looks like it will. I’m still adjusting to cooking three meals a day for Tagen and fixing an evening meal for the three of us. Ellexia will be here for part of the week and she always keeps me busy.

I’m tired tonight so hoping I can get to bed early and get some good sleep. I’ve been a bit sleepy all day. It felt like a day where I had to slow my body down a bit so my brain could catch up with it.

Grateful to see all three of my kids today, grateful to be able to witness the marriage of Dean and Brittani, and grateful for a safe trip to and from Lawrence.

Where did June go? I can’t believe it is the last day of June already. I am so out of time these days that the calendar doesn’t hold much meaning to me and I get surprised when I tune in to it for a bit.

I went to Emporia early afternoon and Tagen helped me fill my car with another load of Michelle’s things. We haven’t unloaded it yet and will do that when Michelle gets off work tonight. While I was in town I stopped and picked up a prescription that was ready to go home.

Tagen and his girlfriend are swimming this afternoon at the Cottonwood Falls pool. They invited me to go with them but it is too hot to be outside. It is over 100 again today with the heat index reaching well above 100.

I did some laundry today. Tagen had to wait for a pair of shorts to get dried so he could shower and get ready for the day. I ordered him two more pair so I don’t have to do laundry every other day.

I am grilling us some steaks for dinner tonight. Still working on cleaning out the freezer so I have room for the beef that will be coming in August. Tough duty to eat up steaks but I think we can manage that tonight. It will make for an easy dinner to fix and serve.

Tomorrow Kathy and I are going to Lawrence to our nephew’s wedding. Jason and Nicole and their families are meeting us there. Not sure if Michelle and Tagen are coming or not. It will be good to get out of the house and go somewhere. I look forward to seeing some extended family members I haven’t seen for a while.

Haven’t made any plans for the fourth holiday. I enjoy watching fireworks from a distance but not a big fan of watching them in a crowd of people. Since I am retired I don’t get an extra day off anymore as everyday is like a day off.

I did a bit of housecleaning today but always seem to have more to do. I also need to get out and do some mowing. It is to cool off tomorrow so may try to get it done then. We have a good chance for some rain tomorrow so we will see what happens with that plan. I much prefer we get rain over being able to mow but am not betting money that we will get rain.

Next week is another quiet week for me. I don’t have anything on my calendar. I have a few friends I need to make contact with so may try to do that next week. It would be good for me to have lunch with a friend or two and have some adult conversation. Things have been a bit unsettled around here and getting out for a bit would be good for me.

Ellexia and I only have three weeks before our cruise. I need to start thinking about what I want to take with me and making sure I have what I need. It will be time to fly to LA before I know it.

I have been a bit surprised that I have been able to hold myself at or above the neutral level of consciousness for these last two weeks. I have dipped below a couple of times but have managed to pull myself up each time rather quickly. When my normal routine gets broken I normally dip below and stay there for a while. A sign of progress that it didn’t happen this time, maybe?

Grateful another load of things has been brought to the house, grateful for Tagen’s help loading this morning,and grateful for steaks in the freezer that need eaten.

A miracle (of sorts) happen on the prairie today. The guttering guys showed up and fixed the guttering. The guttering got broke exactly six months ago today. I called them the day after it got broken and was told they would fix it the following week. That has been one long week! Thank heavens that job is finally done. Wonder how fast they will get the bill to me?

Jason came out this morning to put together Tagen’s bed. We are putting it in the room Michelle will be using. We moved the twin bed that was in her room to another room and set up the queen sized bed. It was missing three nuts so I went to Strong City Hardware to get some.

The lady in the hardware store found what I needed. I happened to see their large plumbing section and remembered I needed a water ram to keep on hand to clean out the floor drain in the basement. I found what I thought was the right thing. When I went to pay, the guy that owns the drain cleaning business that recommended I get the water ram was at the cashier stand. He said I got the right one. He asked if I needed it already! I told him I wanted to get one before I forgot what I was to get and was grateful he was there to ensure I got the right thing.He smiled and told me to hang it up downstairs and I would have it when I needed it.

I went to Emporia this afternoon to run errands. I took seven boxes of Tagen’s stuff he wanted to donate and get rid of and dropped them off at the Salvation Army. Then I went to the vet and got flea and tic medication for the two dogs and one cat. I made an appointment to take Ellie in to have her shaved. She has dreadlocks on her back. She is too fat to groom herself properly and her hair is all matted and ugly. I take her in July 13 at 8:00 for her to get cleaned up.

I went to Tim’s house and picked up a car load of Michelle’s things. Man it was hot carrying all that stuff and loading my car. I filled my car, leaving just enough room for the groceries I needed to buy. I need to go get another car load but think I will do that another day.

I stopped and filled the car with gas and then went to Walmart to pick up a prescription and a few groceries. Got everything purchased and loaded into my car. I remembered why I like on-line ordering so much. I was worn out by the time I got home and I didn’t even buy much.

Coming home there was a long line of old fashioned cars on the highway. They were going 50 MPH at best. It seemed to take a long time to get home today.

Tagen and Kathy helped me carry the stuff in from the car. Michelle and Tagen are going to be busy this weekend finding homes for all their things.

I am fixing a taco salad tonight for dinner. Tagen will probably have regular tacos and Michelle and I will have salads. That will be light, quick and easy. It is almost too hot to eat today. It has reached over 100 on the prairie today and is to be even hotter tomorrow.

So very grateful the guttering project got completed. Now to get the plumber out here to install the new kitchen faucet and fix the refrigerator water line.

I still need to go down and give the chickens some fresh, cool water. I worry about them on days like today. It is too hot for man or beast to be outside. Tagen went to weight training this morning and was really hot and worn out when he got home.

I came home from town a bit cranky. I got upset at something that happened and it took me a bit to calm down. The slow traffic coming home didn’t help my mood and Walmart was too peopley for me today. I’m glad I am home and can cool down and relax a bit.

I already feel my mood elevator going back up. It dropped while I was in town. Maybe I need to stay home and keep myself in time-out the rest of the day.

Grateful the guttering project is finally done, grateful the drain cleaning guy was at the hardware store when I was today, and grateful for Jason, Tagen and Kathy’s help today.

Oh my what a day. I got up early in case the guttering guys showed up. They didn’t! Why am I not surprised?

Kathy and I went to my neighbor’s house and picked up a pickup. Kathy drove her car, Tagen drove my car and I drove the pickup to the house in town. Jason met us at the house and helped us load. We loaded all three vehicles about as full as you could get them. Came home and unloaded them and then went back for round two. The second time we filled my car and the pickup.

I stopped and picked up my grocery order and then came home and unloaded my car for the second time. Tagen and his girlfriend got the pickup unloaded.

Tagen followed me back to my friend’s house so we could return the pickup after I fixed him and his girlfriend a quick lunch.

It was HOT out today. It reached 100 in town today. We are all wiped out after that task. Tagen now gets to go through everything and decided what to keep, what to donate and what to store in the barn.

Jason is going to come out tomorrow and help us set up the bed and move another bed to another room. Hopefully by the weekend all the stuff will have found a temporary home and Tagen will be settled in for the long haul.

I am fixing spaghetti and meat balls for dinner. Michelle and Ellexia are coming out for dinner and Tagen and his girlfriend will be here too. That will be a quick and easy dinner to fix and serve and one all the kiddos will enjoy.

Tomorrow or Friday I need to go to Emporia and pick up medication from the vet for the dogs and cat. I will have a car load of things to drop off at Goodwill of things Tagen no longer wants. Nothing else is on my calendar for the weekend except the wedding Saturday night in Lawrence.

It felt good to help Tagen make this big move today. It has made this whole situation feel real to both kiddos and I am betting some emotion will be forthcoming. Change is hard for all and things are still a bit unsettled. I’m grateful I can help them through this and be a safe space for them to vent and ask questions.

Grateful the move was accomplished today without incident, grateful for the use of my dear friend’s pickup, and grateful for Kathy’s help today.

I took a whole sleep aide last night and got some good sleep. The only problem is I was sleepy all morning.

I got a text at 7:30 this morning from my renter in Cottonwood Falls telling me the guttering guys were at her house. I told her to give them my address and phone number. They never showed up! Got close to getting it fixed but no cigar.

I got up and got dressed so I could show them what to do but they never showed up. I took a short nap in my chair as I had trouble fully waking up.

Michelle took Tagen to his doctor appointment this morning. Tagen got released from his concussion protocol so he is good to go.

I fixed him two grilled cheese sandwiches and a can of Spaghetti O’s for his lunch. He had three bowls of cereal for breakfast. That boy/man can eat!

I went to the Dollar General Store in Cottonwood Falls this afternoon to get some potatoes, onions and hamburger buns. I am grilling hamburgers for dinner and have fixed deviled eggs and a potato salad to go with them. I will also fix some baked beans.

Haven’t gotten much else done today except for two more loads of laundry and another load of dishes. I told Kathy last night that I needed two dishwashers to keep up with dishes around here now. I sure don’t remember this many dishes when I had kids but I’m sure there were. The washing machine, dryer and dishwasher seem to be running non stop now with four people in the house full time.

We got some sprinkles today. West and south of here got a nice rain but by the time it got to us it had run out of rain to share. Dang. So close but so far away! It is to be over 100 degrees tomorrow. Summer has arrived on the prairie. The next 10 days are going to be hot, hot, hot! Glad my A/C works and I can stay inside.

Tomorrow we are moving Tagen’s things to this house. Hoping one truck load will do it. Jason is going to meet us there and help us get things loaded. I don’t think it will take more than an hour or so but we will see. I have a grocery order to pick up between 2 and 3 so hoping it will be ready to go when we are ready to come back home.

I had a Zoom class at noon today but slept through the first part of it and the instructor doesn’t admit late people. I hope she sends a replay of it so I can watch it later.

While I was in Cottonwood Falls, I stopped by Kansas Graphics to see if they can make some 4, 5, 6 and 7 generation buttons or ribbons for our family reunion in August. The person I needed to talk to wasn’t in and is to call me tomorrow. I will have to guess at the numbers I need of each. We shall see how expensive they are and if I order them or not. Thought it would be fun for everyone to have one but it is an optional thing and not required if cost prohibits it.

The house is back to my new normal today after the weekend guests. Both Tagen and Michelle have gotten settled in their rooms and have found places for their things. We are moving some beds around tomorrow once Tagen’s bed gets here. So grateful I have a big house and room for all of us and all their things.

Still sitting in a good head space. I was on the edge at times this weekend but managed not to fall into the muck pond or below the neutral consciousness level for very long. I do need to get a few things on my calendar just for me for the next couple of weeks. I need to remember to take good care of myself with all the upset around here and find ways to self soothe.

Saturday Kathy and I are going to Lawrence to go to our nephew’s wedding and reception. That will be a fun outing as we will see some family members we haven’t seen for a long time.

Grateful Tagen got released from his concussion protocol, grateful for sleeping aides, and grateful for a quiet day at home.

Another night of little to no sleep. I could not fall asleep last night until about 2:00 this morning. Then I woke up at 5:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep.

I got up and made home made cinnamon rolls from scratch. What else does a person do when they can’t sleep at 5:00 in the morning – right? I don’t eat them but they looked good.

I also served my guests a French Toast Casserole, yogurt and fresh fruit. They packed up and headed home after they ate breakfast.

I have spent the day doing laundry and making beds and washing dishes. We got Tagen’s room all made up and his clothes unpacked and he is settled in. I made up Michelle’s bed so her room is ready for her to get unpacked and settled into tonight when she gets home from work. I still need to roll up the air mattress and get it put away.

I have the trash all emptied and the towels restocked in each of the bathrooms. Things are returning back to my new normal in the house.

Tagen is feeling much better. He went to town today and did a light work out at the gym and then picked up his girlfriend and brought her out to the house. I’m sure he will get cleared from concussion protocol when he goes to the doctor tomorrow. He may have to go through a week or so of gradual release but we shall see.

Wednesday I am borrowing a pickup from a dear friend and Kathy, myself and Jason are going with Tagen to the house to clear everything out of his room and bring everything here. I am hoping it won’t take more than an hour or two. While I am in town I will stop and pick up my grocery order for the week. It will be good for Tagen to have all of his stuff here.

I have nothing on my calendar for tomorrow. The house will be back in order so I can take a calm and relaxing day. I am overdue for a day like that. It seems like it has been a hot minute since I had a day at home with nothing that has to be done.

Does anyone know if the road construction on Highway 50 is completed? Tagen said they weren’t working today when he went to town this afternoon. What a relief it will be when it is done. I’m tired of driving the back roads and it taking extra time to get to town.

I had five others join me last night for the Tonglen practice. Four of the five had never done Tonglen before so we started at the very beginning. I’m not sure what my guests thought about it. It seemed a bit foreign to them I think. They were good sports though and stuck with it until we were done.

Things are still a bit apple cart upset around here. Not sure we can look too far to the future and have an idea of a solid plan yet. Hoping this week will bring some answers or at least a chance for all to catch their breath and allow bodies and minds to catch up with each other.

Grateful I have a big enough house to take in my family as needed, grateful for the guests that came and went, and grateful for the silence in the house this afternoon.

Thought I better blog while the house is quiet. I will be too tired later tonight.

I fed my guests crock pot steel cut oats, coffee cake, yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast. They seemed to enjoy it again.

They are all out and about and enjoying what Chase County has to offer today. They will be back in a bit for the evening.

Tonight is another Tonglen circle. I invited my guests to join us and I think they are going to. Not sure who else will show up but am hoping a few others will join us too. It will be good for me to spend some time meditating and getting myself grounded tonight.

Michelle and Tagen will be back for the night in about an hour or so. Kathy and I got the queen sized air mattress blown up and I got it made up so it is ready for someone to sleep on it tonight. Kathy and I took a minute to figure out how to use the air pump for the air mattress. I do believe I need to invest in an electric one if I think I may be using this mattress again. Kathy got her exercise in for the day using the hand pump one. I did it for short periods but Kathy did most of the pumping.

I have one more breakfast to fix in the morning for my guests and then they will be on their way home. Still debating about what to make in the morning. I’ll see how early I wake up and how much energy I have in the morning and then decide what to fix. I may make homemade cinnamon rolls but not sure yet.

Tomorrow I will have four beds to strip and wash sheets and make up. Will have some other housecleaning to do to. That should keep me busy most of the day.

I have to pay the final payment on the cruise Ellexia and I are going on in July tomorrow. Next week I have to pay the bulk of the cost for the trip I am taking to the UK in September. Yikes! It hurts when I have to pull the money out of savings for these things but am grateful I have savings to pull it out of.

Hoping to get a quiet day on Tuesday with nothing to do but am not going to count on it. I am craving a stay at home with no one around day but that isn’t going to happen for a bit now. I will have to find other ways to self regulate.

Grateful breakfast went well today, grateful I have the funds to pay for the two trips, and grateful my guests are having a nice weekend.

What a day! I had trouble falling asleep again last night. It was after 2:00 before I was able to go to sleep. Thunder was rolling over the prairie at 6:30 this morning and woke me up. I needed to get up at 7:00 anyways so went ahead and got up. We only got a very brief, light shower. Sure wish the rain would come back and stay awhile. We need rain badly.

Made some banana bread and a cheese quiche for my guests to have for breakfast this morning. Served them with fresh fruit and yogurt. They seemed to enjoy it.

After I cleaned up the kitchen I went back to bed and took a nap. It was much needed and appreciated. I am not sure how I survive on only three to five hours a sleep for years on end. I have gotten used to sleeping more and feel very sleep deprived right now.

I left for KC at 3:00. I went to Costco and managed to fill the cart full of stuff. Not sure what all I got. I needed foods and snacks that are kid friendly – hope I got things the kiddos will eat. I also got a few things for myself.

Went to Nicole and Geoff’s house after I did the Costco thing. They were hosting a party for 40 or so to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Geoff’s parents. I didn’t know many at the party but it was fun to watch the families interact and visit. Nicole and Geoff served a wonderful meal for all. I ate and then skipped out early and came home.

It took me a bit to get the car unloaded. I piled everything in the laundry room for now and will figure out where to put it tomorrow. I’m too tired tonight to deal with it all.

I am going to fix steel cut oats in the crock pot for breakfast tomorrow morning. I will mix it up and let it cook all night and like magic it will be ready in the morning. I will set out some bagels and bread for toasting and some fruit and yogurt and call it good.

I have another Tonglen practice Sunday evening. I invited my three guests to join us and I think they are going to do so. I’m never sure how many others will show up. It will be fun how ever many come.

Michelle and Tagen will be back tomorrow night. I am going to see if I can figure out how to blow up the air mattress I have so Tagen will have a bed to sleep in. Michelle and I can share my bed. If I can’t figure it out I will sleep with Kathy and Michelle and Tagen can share my bed. I will have a houseful tomorrow night.

I will fix my guests breakfast Monday morning and then they will be on their way. Michelle and Tagen can then get settled in their rooms for the duration. We are going to get all of Tagen’s stuff on Wednesday so he can make himself at home here. I’m sure it will feel good to him to have all his things here. Hopefully he will be released from concussion protocol on Tuesday and can slowly start to return to normal activities.

I don’t have anything else on my calendar for next week. It will be good to have some empty space. This last week was a bit chaotic and I need to slow things down a bit and give myself some breathing space. I need to find a new rhythm around here and do some planning of meals, etc. My lifestyle changed and I need to catch up with that change and adapt.

Grateful for a safe trip to and from KC, grateful for Nicole and Geoff and their invitation to come help them celebrate Geoff’s parents, and grateful I was able to pull off serving breakfast this morning.

Didn’t sleep well again last night. I am about to my limit on tiredness. Not sure what to do about it. Thinking my thyroid is way too low. I am going to call Monday and see if I can get it checked. I feel wired and am having trouble settling which happens when my TSH levels are too low.

Stayed busy keeping the grandkids fed today. Ellexia ended up spending the night so I had both of them all day. Tagen got up before I did and he had a bowl of cereal. When Ellexia got up I fixed both of them pancakes and scrambled eggs. For lunch they wanted noodles with Alfredo sauce. They had s’mores at some point this afternoon. They also hit up the chips. I really had forgotten how much teenagers can eat in one day.

Michelle took the kiddos to visit Craig and Nancy for the weekend. I’m sure they will all have fun and it will be a nice break for the kids from me and me from them.

My three guests showed up early afternoon. They dropped off their bags and went out on their first adventure of the weekend. Not sure what their plans are for the evening.. I will check with them at some point tonight so see what time they want breakfast in the morning. I need to decide what I am fixing them. I have three different menus I can use so will have to decide on one of them and see if I need to do anything tonight to get it ready.

I am planning on going to KC tomorrow afternoon. I need to make a big Costco haul and stock my pantry with snacks for the kiddos. I will drop by a party Nicole and Geoff are hosting for a hot minute and then come home. I will need to get home so I can get to bed so I can get up early Sunday morning to fix breakfast.

It will be nice tomorrow to have a bit of down time after I get breakfast fixed and served. I don’t feel I have sat in the silence much this last week and my body needs some. I will get some again Sunday after breakfast and before the kids get home Sunday evening. We shall see what next week brings.

Next week I have got to get back painting the deck. This week was too full of chaos for me to even think about it. We will find a rhythm and get everyone settled in soon and I will be able to get back to doing things I need to do.

I don’t have anything on my calendar for next week. It will be good to have a stay at home week and give me a chance to catch my breath. Tagen may get released from concussion protocol and will be able to get out and do his own thing. A empty house day sounds good to me right now!

Grateful the kids stayed fed and happy today, grateful my guests arrived safely, and grateful for some empty space time.

Five of us gathered last night and celebrated the gifts we each share with the world during our Summer Solstice celebration. I don’t know how I could do life without the support of these beautiful women and the gifts they freely share with me.

Had another rough night for sleeping. I was up at 5:00 this morning and couldn’t get more sleep. This has been going on all week. Not sure if it is the energy of the summer solstice or all the things going on around me.

I took Tagen to Emporia around noon. He needed to deposit a check. We picked up his girlfriend and Ellexia and I took them all to Bobby D’s for lunch. Afterwards we stopped and filled the car up with gas and got some milk at the store and then came home.

The kiddos have watched a movie and spent a quiet afternoon here. They have eaten several snacks and have taken a relaxing afternoon.

I am fixing goulash for dinner for them. Ellexia is going to spend the night too so I will have a full house. Michelle will take Tagen’s girlfriend home later this evening. This weekend Michelle is taking the two kiddos to Wichita to see Papa Craig and Nancy. I have three guests coming in tomorrow afternoon so will continue to have a houseful all weekend.

I haven’t gotten to the housecleaning yet but will get there. Haven’t had much energy today and haven’t pushed myself yet. I still have 24 hours – right? It will get done. Tomorrow I will need to strip all three beds and get clean sheets put on the beds. I will get to it tomorrow and it will get done.

The drain cleaning guy showed up around 5:45 last night. He was able to get the drain cleared out. I need to get something called a water ram that attaches to the hose. It puts higher pressure of water down the line and helps clear it out. I have looked on-line and haven’t found one yet but I will keep looking. He said the original drain wasn’t put in correctly – it is too flat and doesn’t have enough of an angle to the pipe leading out of the house. It is easy for it to back up and not much we can do about it. He did think the water ram would be helpful and recommended I use it on the drain quarterly. Good to have one thing crossed off my list and the worry about a flooded basement put to rest.

Kathy and Tagen took a long hike this morning. Tagen really enjoyed it. He hasn’t been able to get out and do anything since he had his concussion. He didn’t get a headache from the walk so that is good news. A good long walk was healing for him.

I was able to rise about the neutral level of consciousness last night during our ceremony. I am still higher than I was before the ceremony but I haven’t stayed as high today as I was able to climb last night. All good though! A good night’s sleep would certainly be appreciated and helpful.

Grateful for a full house, grateful the kiddos spent the afternoon with me, and grateful the drain got cleared.

Happy Summer Solstice to all. This is the day that has the most daylight of the year. The prairie has been mostly cloudy today so we haven’t enjoyed the light much of the day. Tagen has been happy as it has helped keep his headache away today since it is cloudy.

There were thunderstorm all around us but we only got sprinkles on my corner of the prairie. Dang it anyways. Maybe next time the rain will find its way to my corner.

I am looking forward to the Summer Solstice ceremony tonight. Several friends will be coming over to join Kathy and I in ceremony. We always have a great time.

Kathy had to go to Emporia today so she picked up my grocery order so I didn’t have to go to town. How lucky was that? Tagen and I have enjoyed a quiet day at home. He was in need of a quiet day and has been watching movies on the couch. He got his homework assignment taken care of and has been able to relax the rest of the day.

I baked a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. Tagen loves to eat them, especially right out of the oven. I hadn’t baked cookies for a long time. I like to make them so enjoyed doing so today.

Went down and took care of the chickens this morning when it looked like it was going to rain. The chickens and dogs have enjoyed this cooler day. I need to spend some time on Sophia and get her raked out and some knotted hair cut off. She is a mess right now.

I haven’t slept well the last couple of nights. Not sure what is up with that. I had gotten used to sleeping up to eight hours a night and am struggling with only getting four or five hours at most right now. Trusting I will be back on track soon.

The electrician showed up yesterday to fix the bank of lights that wasn’t working. He flipped a breaker and fixed it. I swear I had flipped that same breaker a week ago and it didn’t do anything. We had lost power earlier in the day and he said sometimes that resets them so when you flip the breaker they then work. Dang. That was an unnecessary expense to have him come out for that.

Still waiting on the plumber to come out. The main floor drain in the furnace room is backing up now. Sure wish they could figure out what causes that to happen and fix it once and for all. This house has had plumbing issues since I moved in and continues to do so. They wear me out after a bit.

I am also still waiting on the guttering guy to show up. Anyone know of someone that does guttering? I am about to give up on the guy I have called. I don’t know who else does guttering in this area.

Tomorrow I need to do some housecleaning to get ready for the guests that are coming Friday afternoon. I have some baking to do too. I think I am ready to fix breakfast for them the three mornings they will be here. It takes me longer to get organized these days then it used to.

Still sitting in a good head space. Things have gotten interesting and busy around here but so far I am dealing with it all OK. Life seems to happen and throw curve balls and being able to adapt to change is critical. I have a full house for a bit but so far it is working OK. Things are a bit fluid right now with no clear final path known. It will all sort itself out in time. Family support is everything right now.

Grateful for Summer Solstice and the reminder of my gifts, grateful Kathy picked up my grocery order today, and grateful for this quiet day at home with Tagen.

Took Tagen to his doctor’s appointment at 8:30 this morning. He didn’t get cleared from his concussion protocol yet as he still gets headaches when he is in the sun or reading and using screens. He will go back next week and see if they can clear him then. No driving, physical activity or working out for him yet. He is slowly improving but not enough to be cleared for normal activities yet.

Tagen and I picked up Ellexia after Tagen’s appointment and we went to iHop for breakfast. Stopped at Walmart for some groceries and then picked up Tagen’s girlfriend and came home. The three kiddos spent the day with me.

I fixed them macaroni and cheese made from scratch for lunch and spent the afternoon finding them snacks to eat. I forget how much teenagers can eat.

Took Ellexia and Tagen’s girlfriend home late afternoon and then Tagen and I came back out here. By the time we got home, Tagen had a bad headache so he laid down for a bit.

I didn’t get much else done today but that is OK. Spending time with my grandchildren is time well spent.

Tomorrow I have to go back to Emporia to pick up my grocery order. I need to get my Summer Solstice ceremony prepared for tomorrow night. It will be another busy day for me.

I still need to get started getting my house cleaned for my weekend guests. It will get done somehow, someway! It always does.

Grateful for the time with my grandkids today, grateful Tagen is slowly healing, and grateful for the beautiful weather today.

It felt good to sleep in my own bed last night. I woke up around 2:00 and wasn’t able to go back to sleep until about 3:30. Then I woke up at 7:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Not sure why that happened.

Got up and put on old clothes and went out and finished up the mowing. Feels good to have that job done for a week or so. I got over half of it done yesterday so only had about an hour or so to do this morning.

Came in from mowing and took a shower and had breakfast. Did a load of laundry and made up a guest bed. Did my animal chores and then sat in my corner chair and took some deep breaths. It was good to spend the whole day at home.

Kathy got home late afternoon from her adventure back east. It is good to have her back home. Things are slowly returning to normal around here.

Michelle and Tagen are spending the night. Tagen has a doctor’s appointment in the morning at 8:30 and I am going to take him to that. He got a concussion in football camp and he needs a doctor’s note to clear him to return to driving and work. After we get done with the doctor’s appointment we are going to pick up Ellexia and go out for breakfast.

Depending on what the doctor says, Tagen may or may not come home with me. If he gets cleared he will want to get his car and do some things he hasn’t been able to do this last week.

I fixed green chicken in the crock pot for dinner. I emptied the crock pot and put it in the kitchen sink so I could wash it. I set the lid to the crock pot in the sink behind the crock pot and the lid shattered. Not sure why it did that. I sent a note to Hamilton Beach to see if they will replace the lid. If not, I will order one off of Amazon. I have never had one do that before. I’m grateful it shattered in the sink and contained the broken pieces of glass. It would have created a safety hazard if it had broken on the counter.

After I get home from taking Tagen to the doctor I don’t have anything I have to do tomorrow. It will be good to have another quiet day at home. Wednesday afternoon I need to pick up a grocery order at Walmart and then in the evening we are having our Summer Solstice ceremony.

I do need to start cleaning the house so it is ready for the three guests that are coming Friday afternoon and staying until Monday morning. I might get that started tomorrow afternoon if the mood strikes.

Summer temperatures have hit the prairie. It was 90 today and is going to be close or over 90 all week. That will dry everything out quickly. We do have a good chance for rain this weekend but I don’t trust the forecast that far out. I would welcome any rain we can get, even if it comes on the weekend.

I tried taking a nap this afternoon but couldn’t go to sleep. I’m thinking I will go to bed early tonight and hopefully sleep all night. I will have to get up early tomorrow as we need to be on our way to Emporia by 7:50.

Still in a good head space. It felt good to get the lawn mowed and to stay home all day. It is good to have Kathy home and I will enjoy Michelle and Tagen here tonight. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Grateful Kathy had a safe trip home, grateful to have had a stay at home day, and grateful no one was hurt when the crock pot lid broke.

There was another storm that rolled through in the middle of the night. I got woken up by two dogs that were trying to crawl into bed with me. I got up and gave them their calming medication and sat up with them for a bit. We went back to bed but it took them a bit to settle down and sleep. They slept in this morning.

I got up and did chores at the housesitting house and then came up to my house around 8:30 this morning. I put the spaghetti and meat balls in the crock pot and made a four layer dessert for lunch. Cleaned up some things around here.

Tagen and Michelle came out for lunch. We sat and visited afterwards for a couple of hours. It was a wonderful conversation. Tagen is so grown up and talked more today than he normally does.

Tagen and I went up to the housesitting job and did chores. We found the peacock down in the barn where he belongs. Tagen got to pet the three horses and play with the dogs. The cat didn’t come out to play with him.

We came back up to my house and after Tagen and Michelle went back to town I went out and mowed most of the yard. I still have about an hour of mowing left to do but got a good start on it. The rains this week really helped the grass grow and get thick. We got over half an inch last night.

Tagen took home the leftover spaghetti and meat balls and dessert. That kid loves spaghetti and meat balls. I thought I had cooked enough spaghetti for leftovers but had to cook some more so he could have some with the leftover meat sauce.

Tonight is another Tonglen practice. I never know if anyone will show up or not. Several have told me they are out of town or have company tonight and can’t come. We shall see who, if anyone comes. If no one comes, I will practice by myself.

After Tonglen I will make one more trip up to the housesitting job and do the evening chores and make sure I have gathered the stuff I took up there. They will be home late tonight. I trust they had a wonderful trip but I know they will be glad to get home.

Tomorrow I need to finish mowing and do some laundry. I also need to start cleaning house for the guests that are coming in Friday. It will be good to only have my critters to care for tomorrow.

Tuesday i am on stand by to possibly take Tagen to his doctor’s appointment to see if he is cleared from his concussion protocol. Someone else may take him but in case they can’t I am going to. Sometimes it takes a village to raise a child.

Kathy will be home either Tuesday or Wednesday. I trust she is having a safe trip driving home. It will be good to see her when she gets here.

I finally was able to climb the consciousness ladder a step or two about neutral today. That feels good. Some things are shaking out and coming together for me in a new way. I love how the Universe works and things get revealed in the perfect moment. There is a reason and season for everything.

Grateful for the time I had with Tagen and Michelle today, grateful most of the yard is mowed, and grateful for the rain we received last night.

Woke up early this morning and had trouble finding more sleep. I sure could fall asleep right now if I let myself.

Stayed around the housesitting house until mid-morning. It was cloudy and there was a possibility of rain. The dogs slept in so I had to wait until they were up and ready to go out to potty before I could leave.

Came up to my house and had breakfast. Craig and Nancy came up from Wichita and took Michelle and I out for lunch. We were going to go to Ad Astra but it wasn’t open so we went to the Grand. The food was great but we waited over an hour for our food. Michelle and Nancy wanted another adult beverage so we stop at Jacalito’s so they could indulge. We went to the Dollar General store to get a few things and then came back to my house. It was fun spending some time with Craig and Nancy.

I went back up to the housesitting house and did chores and let the dogs out for a bit. Came back home and did chores here.

This evening I have a bridal shower to go to at 6:00. I will have to leave at 5:30. Not sure if they are serving dinner or not so not sure if I should eat before I leave. Ummmm……. They may just have cake, etc. and I can’t eat that. What to do?

I went down to the basement and found a set of tea towels and washcloths that I had made and added some cash and called it good for a last minute bridal shower gift. Young girls these days don’t know about hand made tea towels so not sure they will appreciate the gift but that is what they are getting.

When I get back from the shower I will stop in at my house and check on the critters here and then go back up to the housesitting job to spend the night. It will be my last night there. Tomorrow I will wash towels and sheets and clean the house. My neighbors will be home late tomorrow night.

Tomorrow evening I have another Tonglen practice at 7:00. Not sure again how many will be able to come. Several have told me they are out of town so may not have anyone able to come. Summer time wasn’t a good time to plan to do something like that. People have lots going on in the summer time.

Tagen is coming out for lunch tomorrow. He wants spaghetti and meat balls and a four layer dessert. That will be easy to fix in the morning. Michelle will bring him out as Tagen is not to be driving much right now due to his concussion protocol. Hoping he will get released from the precautions when he goes to the doctor mid-week.

I don’t have anything else on my calendar until Wednesday evening when I will host a Summer Solstice ceremony. That will be fun! I love doing sacred ceremony with my close friends.

Friday three women are coming to spend three nights. I will be fixing breakfast for them the three mornings they are here so that will keep me busy next weekend. It will be fun to see them and visit with them. They have been here before and I enjoy their company.

I started my grocery order for next week. I will pick it up on Wednesday so still have time to add things I may have forgotten. I planned out the menus for the weekend and double checked to make sure I ordered what I needed to fix breakfast. I think I will spend all that I charge for the breakfasts on groceries. Sure don’t make money serving meals.

Saturday afternoon I want to go to KC to Nicole’s house. Her in-laws are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and Nicole and Geoff are hosting a party. I hope to be able to go and drop in for a bit. May stop at Costco since I will be in KC and pick up a few things.

I didn’t get around to mowing today. Lunch took longer than expected and I didn’t have enough time to mow this afternoon. I didn’t want to get dirty before the shower tonight. Maybe tomorrow after lunch I can get at it. If not then, things open up for me Monday next week and I will have lots of time then to get it done. Grass seems to wait for me.

Tomorrow is my last day at the housesitting job. I think the neighbor’s have had a wonderful trip and know they will be glad to get home. I trust everything will be in good shape when they get home. I still feel bad that the door got broken on my watch but those things happen. I’m anxious to talk to them and hear about their trip as they went to many of the places I will be going to in September. They can give me hints of places I should go and places to eat at.

Still sitting in a good head space. It was good for me to be busy today and get out of the house for a bit. I do crave a quiet day or two at home though. Balance! Sometimes it can be hard to find. Kathy will be home Tuesday or Wednesday and with the housesitting job ending things will return to my new normal.

Grateful for the visit with Craig and Nancy, grateful I had a shower gift on hand, and grateful Tagen is coming for lunch tomorrow.

I went up to my house late morning. I took care of chores and worked on a project. The dogs did well last night and we all got a good night’s sleep.

I went to lunch with a dear friend today. We went to the new restaurant in Florence and had a grand time. It was so good for my soul to have a deep conversation and share with another. I enjoyed it very much.

A college student is doing an internship in Emporia for eight weeks beginning the middle of October. She came by this afternoon and looked over the house and checked me out. She is going to plan to stay with Kathy and I and rent a room for the eight weeks.

I went into Emporia after she left and helped Michelle out for a bit. I then went over to my housesitting house and let the dogs out and then went back to my house for a bit. Michelle and I went out for dinner and then I came back to the housesitting job for the night.

No plans for tomorrow or Sunday except for the wedding shower tomorrow night and Tonglen practice Sunday evening. My housesitting responsibilities end Sunday late evening.

It will be good to be back to only one household to maintain next week. Kathy will be home either Tuesday or Wednesday and things will be almost back to normal.

I have some mowing to do at home tomorrow if I get a chance. We shall see what happens. My painting helper got a concussion in football practice this week and can’t help me paint this weekend. Hopefully he will recovered quickly and be able to go back to work and play next week sometime.

The forecast for rain has gotten moved until tomorrow night. Maybe I will get some time at home tomorrow if the forecast holds true. I have to be up here when it rains as the dogs here are weather sensitive.

It’s been an interesting day with a family challenge. Things managed to shake out a bit but it is just the beginning of a long process. I am grateful how my family surrounded each other and came together to handle the crisis. What ever do people do that don’t have family support?

Grateful for my family and their love and support, grateful for good friends, and grateful this week is almost over.

Did a bit of mowing today until the mower stalled out. I am letting it cool down and will go back out to see if I can get it going again. This has not been my week!

Went home late morning and did a couple things at home. Took care of the chores at home and then came back up to the housesitting job. I can sit here just as easily then I can at home. The dogs here prefer someone with them and my dogs don’t notice or care if someone is home.

Got invited to a bridal shower on Saturday. I am going to have to figure out a gift to take. Just got the invitation today! It reminded me to order the wedding gift so got that taken care of. I will come up with something to take to the shower.

Tomorrow I am going out to lunch with a dear friend. We are going to Florence to try the new restaurant there. It will be a pretty drive and I will have good company. Feeling the need to have a deep conversation with someone in person and tomorrow I will get to do that.

Had a deep conversation with Nicole today. We talked about friendships and how they change as we change and grow. It can be so hard to let go of some friendships but it is a needed thing to do so you can allow new ones to come in. You can only carry so much in your arms until you have to set something down so you can pick something new up. Nicole and I are both finding it hard to make new friends in this Post Covid world. I don’t get out much and it is hard to make new friends when I am home alone most of the time.

Still staying at the neutral level of consciousness. Wish I could climb up a step or two but haven’t been able to yet. Maybe tomorrow will help. At least I haven’t fallen down the ladder. The empty space is starting to feel a bit heavy to me. My energy level has been low this week and not motivated to do much. Maybe when things return to normal next week i will climb up a bit.

We are to get some stormy weather this weekend so will spend most of my time at the housesitting job. I will be gone for the shower Saturday early evening but other than that can spend the majority of my time here. The poor dogs here are weather sensitive and do better when someone is around when it is stormy.

Friday late afternoon a women is coming by to see my house. She needs a room for eight weeks beginning the middle of October. We shall see if we will be a match and if she decides to stay with us.

I sent a note to my plumber about the leaking drain pipe. He is going to bring a camera to take a look at what is going on. Not sure when he is coming out though. He told me they have installed new plumbing in three houses that are being built in Emporia this month and have been tied up and are running behind. Hopefully he will get out sometime next week but I am not going to bet on it.

I have three guests coming in June 23 – 26. I am going to be fixing breakfast for them the three mornings they are with me. It will be fun to have a house full again. I’ll have to do some housecleaning next week to get ready for them. I also need to put together the menus and make a big grocery order.

A month from now I will be gathering eggs daily. They should start appearing anytime after July 1. It will be fun to have eggs again. Chicken chores are more fun to do when there is a reward in the coop for me. I need to get the coop cleaned out again around July 1 and clean out the nesting boxes so they are ready for them to use.

Next Wednesday is Summer Solstice. I love doing ceremony and look forward to it. The Summer Solstice is the time to celebrate the light that you are and to name and claim the gifts you offer to the world. Each of us have been given gifts to offer and naming and claiming them helps bring power to them.

Grateful for friends I can have deep conversations with, grateful for this beautiful spring day, and grateful to have had this empty space time.

Had a surprise storm roll through during the night. I heard the dogs barking and got up to allow them to get out of the carriage room. They came in the bedroom where I was sleeping and slept in late this morning. I got up before they did.

When I went out to the carriage room to let them out this morning I noticed the back door had a panel knocked out. When I looked closer I noticed scratches on the door from the inside. The dogs had gotten frightened from the storm and must have tried to get out. I didn’t hear them soon enough.

I went back up to my house late morning and did chores there. There was a chance for rain this afternoon so came back here and spent most of the day here. The dogs have been well behaved all day. I think they know they screwed up this morning.

My handyman came up this afternoon and fixed the door. He is so good to me and comes when I need it most. There was a turtle climbing around while he was working on the door that seemed very curious about what Phil was doing.

I have binged watched Call the Midwife again today. I am up to season five and have lots more seasons to go. It has made me cry a couple of times. I love how the show addresses issues of the time and does it in such a sensitive way. I wish our country had full medical coverage like England does.

So far there is no rain in the forecast for tomorrow so I will spend most of the day at home tomorrow. I have a few things I need to do at home.

Friday I am going to lunch with a dear friend. It will be good for me to get out and have a deep conversation with a friend. I have spent way too much time alone the last two weeks.

No plans for the weekend. I need to do some housecleaning here and gather my things up. My housesitting job will end Sunday evening. It will be weird next week staying home alone all day.

Feeling a bit lost tonight. Not sure what that is about. I will spend time at home tomorrow getting well grounded. I have a project to work on tomorrow and that will help.

Grateful the door got repaired today so quickly, grateful for the rain we received last night, and grateful for the empty space time I have had.

Had a long night last night. I took a late nap yesterday so had trouble going to sleep last night. A dog woke me up and wanted out in the middle of the night. They went out and ran away and wouldn’t come back in. I kept getting up to yell for them to come in but no answer.

This morning early the other one wanted out. They ran off too. Yikes! Finally about an hour later they both came home. Bad dogs! I feel so responsible for them and was ever so grateful they came home.

I came up to my house and went back to bed. I slept for about an hour or so and then got up. I did some laundry and took care of a few things I needed to do.

I have a Zoom class today that I thought started at noon. I went up to the neighbor’s house at 11:30 and did chores and let the dogs out. This time they came right back in. I came back to my house and logged in at noon and discovered I had converted the time from eastern time instead of the western conversion I should have used so my class is at 4:00 instead.

I texted Ellexia and invited her out to lunch. She accepted my offer so I drove to town and picked her up. We went for lunch and then went to Walmart and picked up a prescription that was ready. Ellexia wanted to get her dad a birthday cake and a Father’s Day present so we took care of that too.

Dropped Ellexia off and then went to a car wash and gave my car a bath. Went back to Walmart and picked up my small grocery order and came home. Put groceries away, will do my Zoom class at 4:00 and then go back up to the neighbor’s house for the night.

I so enjoy having lunch with Ellexia. She is so grown up these days. I needed to talk to someone and she fit the bill today. It was good to get out for a bit and get my errands taken care of.

Hoping tonight the dogs will come back in after I let them out. I worry about them attacking the peacock who has decided to hang out by the house instead of staying in the barn where it should be.

I sent a note to the drain cleaner guy as the drain in the basement backed up again. I ran the dishwasher a bunch over the weekend and did a load of laundry today. Other than that I haven’t used much water this last week. For some reason the lights are not working in that room now. I changed the light bulbs today and that didn’t fix the problem. I checked the breaker box and that didn’t fix the light problem. I am scratching my head wondering what is going on. The drain guys said it didn’t make sense that only this drain is backing up when the floor drain is not.

Their next step is to cut off the above ground U shaped pipe and close it off so water can’t come up the pipe. They don’t understand why the floor drain works but not this one.

I have nothing else on my calendar for the rest of the week. I really need to find something productive to do with myself. I do much better when I have things to do a couple days a week.

Still staying at neutral on the consciousness ladder. I would like to be a step or two up the ladder from neutral but can’t seem to climb up. At least I haven’t fallen down and gotten into the muck pond.

Grateful for Ellexia and our conversation today, grateful I discovered the drain had backed up again, and grateful both dogs came home safely this morning.

Three of us gathered around the swings and practiced Tonglen last night. It was a gentle, peaceful evening and we are discovering the power of Tonglen. At one point between practices, the birds were flying all around. When we did our four minute practice, the birds became quiet. When we were done with our practice, the birds started singing again.

I have been having a low energy day. Not motivated to do anything. Maybe I needed a rest day to recover from yesterday. What ever is going on, I am honoring my body and not doing anything today.

I went up to my house this morning after I did chores here. I took care of the chores at my house and sat all morning. Came back to the neighbor’s house around 1:00 to let the dogs out and then went back to my house. I had lunch and then came back to the neighbor’s house after I fed Kathy’s cat. I am going to watch some more Call the Midwife this afternoon and continue doing nothing the rest of the day.

I sent a note last Thursday to the Nurse Practitioner at the Endocrinologist office. I asked her if she was sure I should stay on the higher dose of the Tirosint medication for my thyroid. My levels were 2.1 when I had them checked last week and she recommended I still stay on the higher dosage. She finally responded today and confirmed that she wants me on the 125 dosage and then have my levels checked in 4 weeks.

Yikes! I’m afraid my levels will continue dropping and get too low. That can be life threatening if they get low enough. I had switched to the 100 dosage but am almost out of them and don’t have another refill. I guess I will get a refill of the 125 and do what she recommends. I sure hope I don’t get into trouble.

When I first went on Tirosint seven days a week I got too low taking the 112 level seven days a week. They switched me to taking pills three days a week and the liquid four days a week. Last time I was in the office they lower the dosage to 100 and had me go back on the liquid form seven days a week. It was working well until I had Covid again and the Paxlovid caused my levels to get way too high.

Sometimes I wish the practitioners would listen better and look through my records. This Nurse Practitioner wasn’t here then and although I told her what happened, I don’t think she heard me. Man! I hate things like this.

I will have to go to Emporia tomorrow and pick up the 125 medication. I need a few groceries so I will put in a grocery order and pick it up then too. Maybe Ellexia will go to lunch with me tomorrow and I can do three things in one trip.

It is an absolutely beautiful day today. Mid 70’s and no wind with bright blue skies. Days don’t get much more perfect than this one. I should have painted today but just couldn’t make myself go out and do it. Tomorrow is to be just like today so hoping I will get a couple hours of painting in then.

Staying at the neutral level on the chart of consciousness today. I could easily slip down below neutral though. I’m a bit frustrated with the doctor’s office and feeling a bit restless. I will do some Tonglen practice when I am done typing and see if that will help me release whatever is going on. If I could make myself go outside and take a long walk, I know that would help too.

One more week of housesitting. My neighbors will be home next Sunday evening late. It will be weird only having my critters to care for next week. Kathy will be coming home mid-week next week and things will be back to normal.

Grateful for this beautiful spring day, grateful to have the luxury of taking a do nothing day, and grateful for a beautiful Tonglen practice last night.

Happy anniversary to my parents who were married on this day in 1948. They are both together on the other side now and I trust they celebrated together. I sure miss them and am so grateful for all the ways they loved me.

It has been a busy day for me. A little thunderstorm rolled through during the night. The dogs woke me up for some reassurance that all was well. I let them out around 5:30 and then I went back to bed. Got up at 7:30 and did chores and then came up to my house around 8:30.

I got the turkey in the oven and did my chores. Fixed a green bean casserole and little smokies in BBQ sauce. Ran to Strong City and got some ice and then came home and made the macaroni and cheese. I had fixed a salad and desserts yesterday.

The kids started showing up around noon. We had a good time eating and visiting. There were nine of us for lunch. I got rid of the leftovers by sending them home with the kids.

Jason buried Belle in the old garden area. That is one of the few places where you can dig a hole without hitting rock. I’m grateful he took care of that job for me.

The lamp I have sitting by my chair quit working. Jason hit the reset button on the plug and fixed it for me. Grateful!

I sent home some beef with Jason and Nicole. I am working to get my freezer emptied out before the new beef comes in August. I am slowly getting the freezers cleaned out. It was good to get the turkey used up today.

After the kids left I went up to the neighbor’s house and let the dogs out and fed the peacock. For some reason the peacock had wondered up to the house today and hung out around the house all day. That is unusual for him to do that. Not sure if he was able to come up because the dogs weren’t out as much as they normally are or what. I trust he will find his way back to the barn tonight.

Tonight is a Tonglen group practice. Several of the ones that came last week can’t come this week so not sure who, if anyone, will show up. I never know when I do something like this if anyone will show. So far the forecast looks dry enough that we will be able to sit outside and practice but we can move inside if that changes. Outside feels a bit freer to me somehow.

I don’t have anything on my calendar for the rest of the week. I haven’t placed my grocery order for the week yet but don’t know that I need much this week. I will be going back and forth between the two houses all week. Since I was gone so much today I will spend more time at the neighbor’s house tomorrow and give the dogs some extra attention.

Hoping the weather dries out a bit so I can do lots of deck painting this week. Rain is in the forecast for everyday this week so we shall see. We still need more rain so appreciate the rain. I’m afraid once the rain moves on it is going to get really hot and then painting will not be fun. Although if I had my choice I will take rain over painting any day.

It was so nice having all the kids come home today. I love fixing a meal for them and enjoying their company. I would do it every week if I had my way but they all have their own life’s and are busy.

I am a bit tired today as I stayed up too late last night. I am watching the first couple seasons of Call the Midwife and I started one at 10:00 and thought I would be in bed by 11:00. It turned out to be a Christmas special episode and was two hours long. I didn’t realize that much time past as I was watching it so I got to bed late and then got up early this morning. Maybe tonight I can sleep in and get more sleep.

Still in a good head space. I do need to find a few things to put on my calendar for next week though. With Kathy gone I won’t see or talk to anyone else unless I find someone to do something with this week. If I go five or six days without talking to someone I get anxious.

Grateful the kids all came home today, grateful for my parents, and grateful Jason buried Belle for me today.

This has felt like a busy day but not sure it was. A thunderstorm rolled through early morning. The flash of the lightning and the crack of the thunder woke me up. I got up and checked on the dogs. They were glued to me for a bit. I gave them their anxiety calming medication and after a bit they settled down and we all went back to sleep.

We got almost an inch of rain overnight and today. What a gentle rain it was. The type of rain that gives all the plants and grass a good, long drink. It didn’t do much to fill the ponds but it was great for the grass.

I went to my house late morning and checked on my critters. Cleaned up the kitchen and did some dishes. Made two desserts for our family day dinner tomorrow.

Came back to the housesitting job and fed the peacock and filled the bird feeder. I had to fill one of the hummingbird water thingy too. All is well here.

I am going to stay here for a bit and then go back to my house. I forgot to bring any clothes for tonight and tomorrow. I have a couple more things to do at my house to get ready for the dinner tomorrow so I will take care of those things and then come back here for the night. I will get up early tomorrow morning and go home and get the turkey in the oven. Mid-morning I will come back here and let the dogs out and then go back to my house for our family gathering. When that is over and before Tonglen I will come back up here and take care of all the critters. Go home and do the Tonglen practice and then come back up here for the night. Good think we only live less than two miles apart.

I went down to my barn to try to find Belle, my missing cat. She ran in front of the mower inside the barn when I mowed earlier this week. I set out food and water for her as she wouldn’t come out of the barn. Unfortunately I found her dead under the camper today. I will have the guys help me bury her tomorrow. I had left the barn door open overnight hoping she would come out but she decided not to. Grateful for the time she shared with me and am grateful to have found her.

Farm animals that live outside can have a hard life sometimes. She had many chances to come out of the barn but for some reason had decided that is where she wanted to be. Maybe she knew she was going to die and wanted privacy. Who knows?

I haven’t talked to anyone again today. It feels weird to have gone back to that space and time where I don’t see anyone else for a couple of days. Grateful the kids are all coming home tomorrow so I will talk to someone. I do well for about four days not talking to anyone and then I start to get a bit restless.

Nothing on my calendar for next week after Sunday. I will continue going between the two houses all week. I will probably try to talk Ellexia into spending a day with me. Maybe I can entice her with offering to take her swimming in Cottonwood Falls. Tagen is a working kid now so he can’t come spend time with me during the week now. He was going to paint today but the weather didn’t cooperate with that plan.

Hoping I can get lots of painting done next week. There is a slight chance of rain everyday next week so we shall see what the weather does. We are finally getting some rain on the prairie. We need it so badly that I will gladly put off painting in exchange for lots of rain.

Still sitting in a good head space. I have had a couple of things going on this week and have been able to take care of myself and not overextend myself in some issues that aren’t mine to fix. I am seeing people and situations with a slightly different perspective which is helpful and healthier for me. That feels good and I will take that as progress in my healing life journey.

I have learned that I can read books and learn a new way of being but until life offers me a situation to practice what I am learning I never am quite sure if I got it. Co-dependency is a hard habit to break but I am starting to see the fruits of my labor.

Grateful for the life and love of Belle, grateful the kids are coming home tomorrow, and grateful all chores are done at both places for the day.

This has been a low energy day for me. Slept in for a bit after I got up and let the dogs up at 6:00. After I got up I went home, showered, ate breakfast and sat. I guess I did take care of two loads of laundry but had no energy to do anything else.

Mid-afternoon I went to Strong City and had a late lunch/early dinner, got some gas and ice and then went to the neighbor’s house. Even the dogs are lazy today and aren’t too interested in doing anything.

I will spend the night here as there is a good possibility of some thunderstorms rolling through early evening. It is good to be here as there isn’t much for me to do here and I don’t feel as guilty just sitting.

I did finish up the little bit of mowing that I wanted to do at the neighbor’s house. I want to keep the grass in the front of the house cut as it was starting to look like no one was here. It looks a bit more cared for now. I got the chores all done and have nothing else to do today until it is time to feed the dogs this evening.

I probably should just give in an go take a nap. Not sure why I am so tired and low energy today but guess I will chalk it up to just one of those days. I’m grateful I had nothing I had to do today and could take a rest day.

Nothing I have to do tomorrow either. The kids are coming for a family day Sunday but I have time Sunday morning to fix the food for our lunch. I may try to get some painting done tomorrow – we shall see how wet it is and if I feel like it. I thought about painting today while I was at home and couldn’t make myself get out there.

Not sure if Belle ever came out of the barn. I left the door open all night hoping she would come out. I closed it when I left the house today as it is supposed to rain. If I don’t see her out, I will have to start leaving feed and water for her in the barn. I hate to set out food and water in the barn as it may attract and feed critters I don’t want to feed and water but I can’t let her starve or go without water.

Have another Tonglen group practice Sunday evening at 7:00. All are invited to attend. I have a feeling this will be a much smaller group as several of the ones that came last time can’t come this week. No prior meditation experience is required. Tonglen is easy to learn but takes a lifetime to fully master.

I don’t have anything on my calendar after Sunday for next week. I will be going back and forth between my house and the neighbor’s house all week. Gives me a good excuse not to get much done.

I haven’t talked to many people since Kathy left Wednesday morning. I forgot how quiet the house is when I am there by myself. I did run into a friend when I was eating lunch today and visited with her and her husband for a bit. I doubt that I will talk to anyone else until the kids come home Sunday. Gives me lots of quiet, reflection time.

My mood elevator is staying above neutral today but barely. I’m not in a grumpy mood, just not in a particularly great mood either. I’m grateful for the time alone so I can work through some stuff that is happening. Not a damn thing I can do about any of it. Sometimes that is harder than having lots to do about something.

Grateful for this quiet time, grateful for nothing on my urgent to-do list, and grateful to have run into my friends today.