Truly A Day of Rest

 The weekend came and went, and I am still not sure how much, I truly learned at the training. I felt it was mostly centered around the 10 ways the Aux reports their involvement around the community, etc. I wasn't impressed on how the whole seminar was put together (facility of choice, preparations, presentation, etc.) but I am sure they did the best the could with what they had. We had to stop early on both days, due to the hotel having to have us out of the ballroom for their next event.

The Wife had a good time shopping on Saturday, and spent three hours at lunch with our friend. Then we had a small dinner at Denny's, then I was done. By 9pm I couldn't keep my eyes open. Off to la-la land... only to wake at 1am and only catnap until 7am. The breakfast selection was quite large, with a buffet (scrambled eggs, sausage, waffles, toast, country potatoes, biscuits and gravy) plus there were other cereals, muffins, and even a place to order omelets. Then it was off to the final day's meeting.

After everything ended, we headed out to the West side, where I did the final pick-up of the donated items at the Dollar Tree store. Went to put it in the back of my Rav, and the Wife sys, "Don't. It won't fit". I'm like huh? I open the back, and it was full of her shopping (plus the bags I had seen in the backseat). I managed to get it into the back seat (large box) and swung by the VFW to drop it off. Then homeward bound....

After two consecutive nights of little sleep, my body rebelled yesterday. I literally almost slept the whole day. Finally got up, and realized it was dumping rain outside. It must have went on for a good 30 minutes. I am leery to hear this morning off all the damages across the Valley, as it was a windy and hard rain. Since I didn't get anything done yesterday, today I will need to get on the minutes and stiff I need to complete, and verify/prep what I have coming up next week. My mind hurts just thinking about it.

PeacE

Too Early Again

 I woke again in the wee hours of the morning. When I finally decided that tossing/turning and not sleeping was enough, it was 3am on the nose. And my stomach was rumbling. I hadn't had supper the night before, as I just wasn't hungry, but the body was letting me know it wanted something NOW! So I dressed and "snuck out of the house" to the corner Quik Trip. A large soda (I know, not good for me but.... carbonation) and a couple jalapeno and cheese dogs later, I feel satisfied. Probably a good thing, but realized I forget to pick up cigarettes while I was there. Will have to try to remember later this morning.

I told the Wife last night to pack up what she needs for the one-night stay we are doing in Tempe tonight. Of course, she didn't. I said I wanted to be on the road by 7a, 7:15a at the latest. Will she be ready? Who knows. I'm the type that early is on time, but she is on time is early - which we all know to not be true. I'm sort of worried for the Wife today. Though she has lived here int he Valley her whole life, Tempe is more to the Eastside of the Valley, and we hardly ever get out that way. So knowing the street layouts, places to go, etc., is not on our easy side. Yet here I am giving her MY Car, to go galivanting about, meeting up with an old friend, and who knows what else, before we can check into the room... talk about Trust! 

I'm a bit nervous about today. It is called Member Involvement Training, and they don't ever really say what it involves. According to the flyer(s) I have received, it just mentions dates/times. In fact, for today, 9a-12p all it says is 'Training and Mentoring', then a break for lunch provided by Humana, then the afternoon is the same, 'Training and Mentoring'. So who knows what I am walking into. Aside from that, I believe this is a state-wide Aux event, so there will be many people there I probably have never met. Let's add in the factor that the majority of Aux members are ladies, usually in their 50's and up, so it's like being around a bunch of Grandmas. I guess that would be cool, if they all brought cookies or something....lol. I know from my own Aux our Secretary and Treasurer will both be there, and they both have mentioned they are 'grooming' me for something more, and I guess they will take it to heart even more with me attending this event.

Grooming for more... in some ways that is scary for me. That means taking on a leadership role within the Post Aux. I particularly have no desire to add on to any of the duties I perform, on top of the ones I do now for two other committees. Hopefully this won't happen, but you know how older ladies get when they set their minds...sigh.

I guess I have pretty much rambled on more than enough this morning. I am just trying to kill time, as I don't see going back to bed, just wake at 6:30a is worth any effort.

PeacE

Tax Rush Monday

 So, taxes are due to be completed by midnight tomorrow (date-stamped from the Post Office, or computer time-checked for those doing it online). Yeah, yeah... I have slacked off, and have not done ours yet. As I use one of the many tax programs out there, I shall complete it this morning and get it done. Hoping we don't owe either entity anything...but will see. This will be the last time we can claim the Youngest as well. I'll have some breakfast here in a bit, check my glucose and BP, then settle into getting it done. It only takes me like 15 minutes (if that) to complete it.

Last week, we had the Aux and Post elections for their next fiscal year. Fortunately, I was not nominated for anything. However, I still hold the Secretary position for the House committee, and the Riders Chapter. Both are appointed positions, not elected, and I know for a fact that no one else wants to take notes at the meetings. I have recently glanced through the by-laws for each group, and noticed that there are other duties assigned to the position I had not known about, so I suppose I will have to brush up on it, and figure out how to do them, if needed. Only the Riders Chapter has any elections left for the month, and again, I am not nominated for anything. I think only the Director and Vice are up for grabs.

Some caramel flavored coffee sounds good this morning.... be right back.

Ahhhh. Much better.

Nothing exciting scheduled today. This coming weekend we talked about going to Tucson for Saturday (Doodad's birthday) but haven't heard of the kids making plans, so not sure. If I leave it up to the Wife, we will be going.

PeacE

Rest, Recovery, and Whatever

 Traveling went well, overall. The trip to Pueblo, CO, took about 13 1/2 hours of time, with a few break for potties, gas, and we stopped at one point for lunch  just to get out of the vehicle for more than 30 minutes, by having lunch in Albuquerque at a Denny's.

Services on Saturday were nice. Not that I know how a Celebration of Life service could/should go, but I heard from family members that there were more people there than they expected. Is that good when you are dead, I don't know.

Thirteen and a half hours drive time total (with stops) to get there. I did the best I could, especially considering I was driving roads and areas I had never been before. The return trip was cutting the time down to 12 1/2 hours, mostly because it was downhill, plus I was driving faster, knowing the route and roads by that point.

Though this was an Aunt on the Wife's side of the family, a death always makes me think. Do I have my wants/needs/requirements in order for when I go? The drive left too much time for reflection on these terms, and still, nothing is resolved. I think I should just devote a journal/notebook to the wants and wishes of (when I die) and say fuck all to the rest. I know, though, that that is not fair to my Wife. Maybe... What if ... When I die, maybe no one will need to know, and my body will be donated to science so no one has to cremate my remains. I hate the thought of anyone saving my ashes, or "feeling the need" to spread them somewhere (at a bar?).

Morbid thoughts tonight.

RM said lots of prayers for our safe travel, and they panned out. Appreciate it Mom! Might be headed South this coming Saturday to Tucson to visit the grandkids, but not sure. I know I'm kinda tired of driving right now, but I can't see them if I don't go. Sigh.

Well, enough griping for now....

PeacE

Travel-Time

 Tomorrow, I want to be on the road by 5am, but I know that is not going to happen. No matter how ready I am, the Wife will take longer to be ready to roll out at the time I want. This afternoon I need to get out and wash/vacuum the Rav, then head to Walgreens to pick up yet another prescription that is ready for me. Then I should top off the fuel tank, and head back home. Packing will be light, so won't take but a couple minutes to put that together. My CPAP and essentials will be packed quickly into their respective containers in the morn.

I'm still not really thrilled about this trip. Usually I don't mind them, but I just have weird vibes about this one. I am hoping it is not a premonition of something bad happening....

Not much else to throw out here...

PeacE

Well, Blow Me Down!

 The winds today are definitely going to try that, if I were to make an appearance outside the domicile. We had notice last night of incoming rain with high gusting winds winds through most of the morning, and into the afternoon. It is about noon now, and I still hear the winds playing havoc with the Wife's wind chimes. They are just under the eave on the back porch, but they are getting some good movement even as I look out the window at them. The rains were hear early this morning, as the sound of heavy drops hitting woke me - though I do not recall at what time. Somewhere before 6am is all I could affirm to. I've already seen some reports of trees being blown down north of the Valley, where they are also getting snow, and closing/limiting the traffic on sometimes the only main state highway to get into those areas. The Wife has a brother that lives up north, and they have been commenting on the "family chat" messages about the weather there, then the other brothers/wives commenting on where they are (all out of state). Drivel. Pure drivel.

Which is what you expect here most days, and today I am hitting the mark for it. Nothing of excitement has happened in the past two days. I have no plans of anything to come. I did message an Uncle back in Indiana, about if they were planning a family get together this year or not. The Wife and would like to get back to see family before we get too old. Maybe take the Youngest with us, but not sure what we will do about the pets. It's all in speculation mode until the uncle gets back to me. If no trip there, looks like I will be going to North Dakota for Country Fest. Sawyer Brown is playing there this year, and I would love to see them in concert. Few other big country acts as well, just don't remember off the top of my head.

When it rains, ... Books. How my Dad and RM instilled the reading gene in me, I'll never know, but am glad I have it. I have got too many books going on that I *WANT* to read. I also have a few in my *HAVE* to read (as they were eARCs and require I share a public review). Then I still have that other set of *GOING* to reads. Just before writing this paragraph, I did shoot off a review for one of the eARCs, but unfortunately, was not a positive review. I rarely have to write one of those thank goodness. This book just could not get my interest, or attention, even after several tries. Though, the blurb about the story sounded good, and the artwork was nice. I have another I started already, and have a couple more in the request chain. I may be busy doing reviews for a couple weeks, before returning to my current regular reads.

Welp, I guess I am off to go check on my book sites now that I have mentioned reading. Need to check if any of the ones I'm waiting on have come out, or anything new I can request to read.

PeacE