When is Too Much Too Much?

There's too much going on in my life--and it's not all good. Well, most of it is. I shouldn't complain. I have had some place that I had to be every day for the last three weeks. Sometimes I would go from one to another with no break in between. How did I get myself in this fix?

Today the retired teachers group hosted a reception for those who are retiring at the end of the school year. One thing I told them is don't jump in to things/groups/activities too quickly. Because once you get started it's hard to get out. I really enjoy the things that I do but I wish I weren't so busy once in a while. I love working at the clothes closet--and I am only required to be there every 7th week. But other churches come and help me on my week so I want to help them when needed. And then, there's the library. I enjoy being there, too. It makes me feel useful, but overwhelmed. I know I've stated this before, but sometimes I feel like I am the only one who is productive there. And the more I do, the more I am asked to do. But I would want to stop volunteering there.

Then there are the genealogy classes we are offering right now. The next classes are on technology and I am giving part of the class. I am the sole presenter of the last class. While getting ready for Tuesday night's class, my projector blew its lamp. I need a projector--for more that just these classes. I use it for Share Your Christmas and any other presentations that I may be called on to give. We used the projector at our Sunday school party to watch a video. I ordered a new projector.

So I have a question. What do retired people do with their time? What do they find to do at home? I think I would go crazy if I stayed home all the time. Now, my house would be cleaner--I think. Remember, I'm not a housekeeper! But maybe if I were home more it would be? Because now when I come home, I want to chill out and not do anything. I know that I am on the computer, playing stupid games, more than I need to be. But it is how I have found to relax.

I think that I have control over these things--the volunteering and being gone from home so much. Not sure about the computer :) The not so good stuff gets me down. I have three teacher friends who have lost their husband recently. One lost their father. One has had major surgery and recovery is not going real well. I worry about all these fine women. Then there's my brother who has cancer. No one should have to suffer like he has. He doesn't look like the brother I know and love.

Thank goodness I have God to help me through these times. I don't know how I would make it without knowing that He is here with me, giving me support, as well as those mentioned above. I know He is taking care of them. I serve an awesome God. He means everything to me. Serving Him is one thing that I will never tire of doing.

No Time to be Sick

I was sick all week. I thought it was just an ordinary cold, you know cough and runny nose. I haven't had a fever and anything that I coughed up was clear--no infection, or so I thought. After two nights of no sleeping because of the coughing I decided that maybe I should go to the doctor. Diagnosis--bronchitis. After three days of antibiotics and half a bottle of cough syrup I am feeling some better.

I didn't have time to be sick. I had too many obligations to carry out. This was my week to staff the center and it was changeover week. That's when we go from fall/winter clothes to spring/summer. I really needed to be there-at least I felt like I should be there. Monday wasn't too bad. I helped sort for a while and then manned the front desk/checkout. But Wednesday I really had no business being there. I didn't have the energy to even carry out clothing to be hung on the racks. I felt really rotten that day. They tried to get me to go home but I'm stubborn and wouldn't do it.

I had a PCGS Executive Board meeting Monday after I left the center. That wasn't too bad, I just had to take notes and will type up the minutes this week. I took pizza home for supper.

Tuesday morning I had an appointment to get my hair done. I had to do that because I had already gone a week longer than usual. My hair was looking pretty ragged by then. I stopped by the library for a few minutes afterwards and then went home. I had laundry to do!

By Thursday morning I was feeling really rotten so decided that I should probably see a doctor. I was able to get a fairly early appointment with a PA whose nurse thought I might have pneumonia. The PA said bronchitis and put me on an antibiotic and some cough syrup.

Now, you think I would be smart and stay home Friday and not go to the library, but no, I felt like I had to be there since Susan was gone. So as I'm on the phone with some one and coughing every few words, he said he thought he should be coughing for me. We had a very good conversation and I was able to help him with some research, coughing through it all. Then I had to go to the grocery store because I had to make soup for a meeting at church on Saturday. I had committed to doing a pot so of course I had to do it.

I sat through the meeting on Saturday and by the time lunch rolled around was feeling pretty bad again. And then, there would have been plenty of soup if I had not made mine. Oh well. We are going to be eating soup for a while.

I did make arrangements to have my sub do Sunday School this morning. I am at home, still in my nightie, and plan on really resting today. I didn't get up until 8:30 but have already gone through a bunch of Kleenexes. Hopefully, I am on the back side of this cold/bronchitis/coughing/runny nose. I have another hectic week scheduled and I don't have time to be sick.

The Lost Symbol

I just finished reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It was a really good book, full of action and suspense, just the kind of book I like. It was truly a page turner. I didn't want to put it down and even stayed up till 1 AM one day, hoping I could finish it, but couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I told Charles that I almost turned to the back to see how it ended--which is what I usually end up doing with whatever book I am reading. But this time I didn't. Except that I did read a couple of pages ahead just to be sure the hero wasn't dead :-) The theme of the book is that the Masons have hidden a "lost symbol" beneath the earth and this evil person was trying to get to it so he would become the most powerful. If you haven't read the book and are planning on doing it, check out now because I'm going to write about this lost symbol and where one might find it.


The leaders of our country back in it's infancy were members of the Freemasons or Masons. It is the Masons who are responsible for the laying of cornerstones. I didn't know this but all cornerstones are always located on the northeast corner of a building and at first the cornerstone was actually a part of the foundation of a building and was underground. Anyway, as the Washington Monument was being built, a "word" was sealed in the cornerstone which is actually underground. This is the basis for the lost symbol. This "word" was what the evil person wanted. Well, it turns out that what supposedly is in the cornerstone is a Bible. And if you think about it, the Bible is the Word of God and our country has indeed "lost" the value of the Word. If we would use the Word and apply it to our lives, the world would be a much better place. At least that's what I took from the book. I didn't really care about the masonic rites it described or the scientific experiments that one of the characters was conducting. For me, Mr. Brown was telling his readers to take the "lost symbol" out of it's hiding place (or off the shelf) and study the Word.

Where does the time go?

I know it's been a while since I posted something. I guess my life is pretty much blah with nothing exciting that I've wanted to share. Sorry about that. It's hard to believe that February is over. It seems we just started the year and now it's 1/6 over--wow!

As I said, there's nothing exciting going on at the Gass House. We both have remained healthy as we can be considering our normal aches and pains. I did have a bout with heartburn that I was sure was something to do with my pancreas. I have this fear that because my brother has cancer of the pancreas I will develop it, too. I did go to the doctor and he had some blood drawn. They had to use a vein in my hand because they couldn't find one at my elbow on my left arm and they can't do my right arm since I can't straighten it out. I haven't called to see if everything was okay but surely if there was something wrong the doctor would have called. You know "no news is good news". I am doing better and haven't had any pains for a couple of weeks now. So I'm sure it was just heartburn. But then again, I don't have a gall bladder and heart burn is associated with gall bladder. Hmmmmmmmmm

Last Sunday I got to hold that new baby I wrote about in my last entry. What a cutie pie. She was so tiny and slept the hold time I held her. Her two older brothers were another story. They were pretty active and so funny. We laughed and laughed at/with them. I am so proud of my nephew and he has a wonderful family.

This weekend Valary came home to visit. Charles hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving and I hadn't since the first of January. It was a very enjoyable visit. She came in Friday about 8 and left this morning around 7:30 so she could get to church on time. I stayed home from the library to spend the day with Valary. We went to lunch at Jasmine's (her choice and I was happy!) then went by the Boulings so she could visit for a while. When we got home we hit the kitchen. She baked a strawberry cake and I made blackberry and gooseberry cobblers. We needed to use the fruit that we salvaged from our freezer.

The freezer is probably the highlight--or low light--of the month. It began making a really loud noise and finally the alarm started going off telling us it had lost it's cooling ability. We were both a little upset because it is less than a year old. We put the stuff in coolers and took as much as we could to put in the refrigerator freezer. Then I called the place where we bought it and they sent out a repairman. He took the inside back off, spun the fan and it started again. He said that we needed to replace the fan and he took down the info to order it. He told me that it should be two or three days to get it in. All of this happened on a Monday. We put the coolers in the storage container because the temp was to stay under freezing for several days. By Friday I still hadn't heard from the repairman. We started putting dry ice in the coolers. By Monday afternoon with still not hearing from the repairman, I called the store to see if the fan had come in. Of course it had so I asked they remind him to put it in. Still no contact. On Tuesday I ran into him at the gas station and told him the fan was in and Charles would be home. I came home expecting to have the freezer fixed. Nope. Nor on Wednesday. Thursday morning, 11 days after first reporting it, I called the store again. This time they called the repairman and he said he could fix it on Friday. Well, he called later that afternoon and came out to do it. He was here less than 15 minutes. But we lost all the stuff we had in the coolers as far as the beef and poultry go. The fruit had thawed but it was still cold so that's why I made the cobblers. Needless to say, we will not allow that repairman in our house again.

So that about sums up my month.

A New Baby

I received a phone call yesterday that was full of good news. My nephew, who lives in Kansas, called with the news that their daughter had been born Monday evening. Her name: Madalynn Kate. He later put pictures on Facebook. She is a cutie! I think she looks a lot like her two older brothers! They remind me of my nephew when he was little. Jackson, my nephew, is such a good father. I don't get to see him very often but he has included me as a "friend" on FB. He and his family have stopped in to see me a few times. The last time it was just him and his youngest boy who will be three in March. I am very proud of how he has grown into the role of father and husband.

Wasn't the frozen fog pretty on the trees this morning. Only God could create such beauty. The camera just doesn't capture it. This was taken off the back deck looking north. We see lots of deer down by these trees almost every day. I love living in the country. I should have taken my camera with me as I went in to town this morning because there were many trees that were absolutely beautiful.

This was my week to staff the clothes closet. I had lined up 4 workers--only 2 showed up on Monday and then 2 today. You know, I can understand that things happen and plans have to be changed but a phone call to say they couldn't come would have been nice...and proper. One that came in today did say why she didn't make it Monday and said that she didn't know how to get in touch with me. It dawned on me later that I'm not sure she knew my last name. Oh, well...

I think I may be staying home again for a couple of days. The weather doesn't sound very good for tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow is our monthly genealogy meeting. We had to cancel in January because of the cold and snow. It sounds like we will be cancelling again tomorrow. That is if the forecast is correct. The wind is supposed to be out of the east and when that happens it usually gets pretty bad. Hope I'm wrong!

A Red Purse, Part 4 The End

Okay, I did it. I bought the red purse at Wal-Mart. It was still there today when I went by the purse rack and it jumped into my cart! It has been waiting for me since the last time I was in WM. So I had to do it. This is the red purse I bought in Kansas City. I like it really well except for the handles. They stick up all the time. I wish they would fold over or something. But I do like this purse.

Here is the purse I bought today. It's actually a little smaller than the other one, which is fine. I like it quite well. So I'm thinking that when I am going to meetings, etc. I'll take the KC purse because it can hold a little more and it's a little more 'dressy'. I'll use the WM purse as an 'every day' one.

So now I am the owner of 3, yes 3, red purses. I have one I bought a couple of years ago. It's pretty banged up but I just can't part with it. I do like red!

So the saga of the red purse has ended. I know it was a dumb thing to do--to buy the WM purse. I sure didn't need it. It was meant to be, though. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been there today!

A Red Purse, Part 3

Okay, I know I don't see very well sometimes, but I know I could see something red! I was at Wal-Mart today for the first time this year. As I was pushing my cart by the purse section there was that red purse that I had wanted! It was not there two weeks ago, I swear it wasn't. I had checked all the purse shelves then and I know it wasn't there. But today, there it was, hanging behind a black purse, on the very rack I had seen it on before. I was so tempted to buy it but I didn't. I really like the handles (straps) on it better than the one I bought in KC, but I do like the one I bought and I just can't really justify buying another one. But it really irritates me that it was there today! Where was it when I was ready to buy it?

Random Thoughts

I think I would like to become a stay at home person. Today was the first day I've been out since Wednesday. That's three days at home in a row. Very unusual for me. I usually want to be out and about. I've loved my time at home. I've read, cleaned, baked, and of course, played computer games. It has been a good time.

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions. It's a waste of my time to do so. Instead, I made a couple of goals for myself. The first one is to be a better housekeeper by setting up a schedule on what to clean each day. You know, like clean the master bedroom and bath on Monday, Valary's room and bath on Tuesday, etc. So far it's not working too well. The second goal is to read the Bible through completely and journal my thoughts. I have read most of the Bible but never from cover to cover. That goal's not going very well either. I have good intentions--just no follow through.

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the snowdrifts were so pretty along side the road. It was -14 at our house this morning. That's cold! I am so thankful I have a warm house. The last couple of weeks have been really cold and my heart goes out to the people who aren't so lucky. They've been weighing on my mind. I've been praying for them. I don't know what else to do.

This is really a stupid post. I don't even know why I wrote it.

A Red Purse, Part 2

I am now the proud owner of a red purse! I did find one in Kansas City that I liked well enough to buy. I just haven't transferred all my stuff over to it yet. Maybe I will get that done in the next couple of days. I love red. I have many red shirts and sweaters and a couple of red dresses that I enjoy wearing. I feel good in red. Even my winter coat is red. I would love to have a red car again. I was once the owner of a red 76 Mustang. I would love to paint one wall in the computer room red, but that will never happen. Charles doesn't like red!

I had a really good time in KC with my red headed daughter! I got to her house about noon on the 1st. We went to Panera Bread for lunch and then walked the Plaza a little. Most of the stores were closed. We did go to one called Better Cheddar. I am sure it smelled wonderful, full of cheeses and other goodies. Wish I had a sense of smell. We then went to see "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep. That was a really good movie! I wouldn't mind seeing it again. We spent the evening at home watching another movie "Lucky Slevin". Quite an action packed film. Saturday morning I went to see my younger brother. I had never been to his house so we googled directions and of course I couldn't find it. I ended up way over in Independence and had to call Valary for directions again. I finally found him and enjoyed a visit with him. Saturday afternoon Valary and I went shopping. That's when I found my red purse. We watched "Julie and Julia" that night. I had planned to leave after church Sunday morning but there was snow and more snow so I decided I should probably try to get home before it got really bad. KC streets were snow covered but when I got to I 71 the driving lane was mostly clear. So, other than getting in a bunch of traffic behind a snow plow, driving home wasn't too bad. The traffic cleared out by this side of Belton. I stopped at Clinton to feed the car and call Charles. He talked me into going ahead and eating and resting for a while before I continued home. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I left KC about 10:15 and got home about 2:30.

I think I will wait till spring to go back to KC!