Town BBQ

     Growing up in the little town of Washington there was always a town BBQ to raise funds for the Volunteer Fire Department.

     The menu consisted of half a chicken,  There were sides made by various people in town. The side dishes would be something like baked beans, corn bread, rolls, coleslaw or salad. Diane Petty made home made root beer for us kids.

     At some point there would be a raffle for prizes. Big Steve donated some gold jewelry he had made. There would also be a quilt dinner at the Washington hotel. There were other prizes as well even if I don't always remember what they were.

     The rest of the evening we danced the night away as a live band would play in front of the fire house.  It was not only towns people that attended this it was open to tourists as well. I know there were a few girls that came camping with their family that I would dance with.

     Overall a good time was had by all. Sometimes I could get into some good conversations with people like Charlie Brown  or just about anyone. If I got home Late I might just sleep out under the stars ina sleeping bag and look at the stars as I drifted off to sleep. I did love my summers there.

My Bedroom in High School.

     I was trying to remember what my room looked like in High School. My parents and I lived in a Mobile Home at the time that they rented. It was also a step up from the 5th wheel trailer we had lived in before. In the 5th wheel trailer I had no room. I Folded the table down and under one of the seats It folded out into my bed.

     Now the mobile home was bigger and it did have two rooms. The master bedroom my parents had then there was my room. I can't give you a square footage but I can describe it this way. I had a Captains Bed that was against the wall. The headboard for it was against the wall that had the one window in the room. There was enough room at the foot of the bed that I could swing my door in and not hit the foot of the bed but it was close. The little bit of room I had between the dresser and the bed was not much but I could open my accordion style door to my closet and pull the dresser drawers out enough to put things in and get things out. The Closet was small but I could hang a couple of Jackets some pants and dress shirts. There was a little bit of a divide so that I had a place to put my guitar and some spare boxed stuff. In that same area there was a little bit of a hole in the floor so you had to cover it over with some plywood to keep the draft from getting in.

     The other thing I remeber about my room was a Poster that had a sleepy looking dog with the words, Conserve energy. It was to remind me to turn the light off when I left the room.  Also the walls were a dark faux wood paneling. It wasn't much but it was home.

Mothers Day Gathering

Today is Mothers Day and we had the first opportunity i a few months together as an extended family. It Was Reed and Barbara, CHase, Cindy and their Kids as well as Tamra, Bear and their kids. Lisa and I were also there. I guess I was still not a 100% there but it was good to see everyone.  Not a huge amount of interaction other than a welcome and I ended up eating at the kitchen counter since there was no room at either table. In hind sight I should have taken moms offer to have Lisa and I over on our next day off.
     Lisa did spend some time with Garrett playing Sorry. Reed and I talked about a few War Movies.  The rest of the time I was the silent observer I usually am.
     I will be glad when all of this is over but it will probably be a while before that happens. Covid-19 is not a fun one.  It has shown how divided we are becoming anymore. You can almost tell a persons political party just by how they talk about things related to it. If you are for lockdowns and paying people to stay home while businesses go under you may be a democrat. If you think we should just open up and let life carry on as normal you are a mean spirited Republican and put profit before peoples health.  It seems there is no middle ground and no one can be happy.  THere are also 2 phrases that I admit to being tired of hearing.  The first is. Abundance of Caution the second is Essential Worker.  An Essential Worker is someone like. First Responders, Cops EMT's Fore Department,. Another Group are those in the medical profession at any level. The last group are those in Grocery/retail.  I work at Walmart and it is considered an essential business so we have stayed open.  I admit to being nervous at fort now I am just tired and feel like the mask I have to wear is a burden to wear hot and sweaty with glasses fogging.
     Part of me wanted to stay home but that is not an option. That is the biggest challenge this whole thing has exposed. Issues of how is a business going to run when it is not making money? How long will this virus last? How long before I lose my collective mind doing nothing but going to work and then coming home and sleeping.
     Need a vacation when I get home but I am saving up my vacation time incase they decide to get the surgery in for my heart.  Getting tired of that and not building up any vacation to do something fun.  It seems it always goes to cover my medical needs.

Perfect Day

     This morning I was thinking about what would be a perfect day. I guess it is something I was thinking about since lately my life has been about managing pain either through use of Tylenol or the generic for it in order to get through the day.

     I would like to start by saying it is sometime in the summer months. I am still a kid that lives in the little town of Washington California. In the morning after a little breakfast I would be grabbing my pack and putting a gold pan, a trowel to dig with and one of my gold vials. I would decide if I wanted to go up or down river from town. Find a place along the banks of the river and find a spot to start taking gravel from and just panning for an hour or two. If I am by a pool in the river I may spend sometime swimming there before I head back home for lunch.

     In the afternoon it wood be about swimming since I usually went down to the bridge swimming hole to see some of my friends or make new ones. It would be a mix of jumping off the rock swimming or just laying on the beach getting a little sun and talking to someone if they are interested.  If I am lucky I have an inner tube and I can just float in the water for a bit before I have to head home for my evening meal. After that I might go for a little evening swim and maybe hang with some campers I have made friends with enjoy sitting around a fire and hearing them talk about their lives and long after the sun has set I would probably head home and either go inside or stay out side and look up at the stars. That would be a perfect day for me.

Battles

     It was back in August of 2019 I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. It started with a trip in July to Lone Peak Hospital. Er Doctor though I was having Congestive Heart Failure but I just though maybe it was something to do with my post Arterial Fibrillation medication visit a week or so before that even.  Hear I sit having a little bit of shortness of breath that goes with this diagnosis.
     Since then it has been a little bit of a battle between how I physically feel and how I sometimes feel mentally. I can have good days and then sometimes for brief periods of time I will have shortness of breath or heart palpitations. They give me meds to help with water retention that can cause issues with the breathing and they give me a blood thinner since my heart does not pump as it should and they want to keep the blood flowing so it doesn't clot and cause me to have a stroke or heart attack.  I should also be better about salt intake as well as eating more veggies.
     I had asked the Doctor how long I had as far as life expectancy and he gave a rough estimate of 5 to 8 years.  Long but not really long in the grand scheme of things. I have a problem with obsessing over the diagnosis.  It seems to be on my mind at least a few times a day.  Sometimes it is because I take a blood thinner and the pain the rest of my body goes through is not helped by acetaminophen and so I get depressed. A couple of times I stopped my blood thinner so I could take my Naproxen to relieve the pain in my knee and  leg.
     Another challenge I have is the thoughts That relate to my shortened life span. What will happen when I can no longer work? Will I have to just let nature takes is course because I can't afford the medical care?  What happens when I can't get up and down the stairs here at home? Where am I going to be buried and how much for all the expense of burial and funeral? These are just a few things that way me down.
     There are a few things that help keep me going some days. The first thing is to just smile and wave at the kids. They seem to love it and sometimes I even get a wave back or both a wave back and a smile. The second thing is saying hello to certain people that come to Walmart where I work. Their names are Sultan (I forget his last name), Feliciano and his wife (need to learn hers), William.(he is from Columbia). There are others but these three are like family to me. It lifts my spirit to see them. That is all for tonight. Going to see if wearing the CPAP will help my shortness of breath tonight.

Follow up and new beginnings

I did make it through the 30 day Challenge. No Soda and Walking a mile every day. Reading the scriptures was a little hard and there would be days I would miss. I discovered that I am better off reading first thing in the morning since by the time I get home sleep is important.  I did lose 6 lbs in the challenge so I was happy about that.

I am starting the 30 challenge up again starting tomorrow. It will be a 1.5 mile walk, No Soda, which I had today and reading the scriptures in the morning.  I will also add 10 push ups in the morning also. Need to build on what I have started.  Will restrict my eating out to twice  a week also.  Good night

Day 28 of 30 day challenge

Well I am still following the 30 challenge. No Soda, Walked my mile today and read from the scriptures.  Not always easy I sometimes get very tired Like I want to go to sleep but I have avoided Soda.

In life I keep pushing forward. Today Lisa and I managed to get some shopping done at a neighborhood Market.  Sometimes it is the simple things. Still trying to think about what is my next 30 day challenge.  Want to keep the habits i am working on but build on them. Thinking I might start a push up challenge.  5 a day to start.  another thing is to limit my eating out to once a week instead of what I am currently doing.  Scriptures will still be a big part of my continued challenge. I have to say by working on just those three books I have noticed myself trying some side things to improve me.  Good Night.