It's Been A Long Time ....

 I have been married for over half of my life. I can honestly say, it feels like it, too. That's not a bad thing. I have been lucky enough, to find that truly special someone that completes me, and that magic has now brought us to thirty-two years of marriage - nearly thirty-four of being together. That being said, I have no special plans for the day, or the evening. Not being sure when she will finish with work today, I dare not make dinner plans. Our hot-air balloon ride on Saturday morning is my contribution to the event. I may go out and get a card, and a chocolate bar for her just for today.

I shared recently about getting a senior discount, and how I was honest with the person, that I truly wasn't a senior, as my age was still below the criteria. It is not the first time it has happened. I have also received Veteran discounts, also without my asking. Most times, I don't even notice the discount was given until I look at the receipt afterwards. It is frustrating being judged, without being asked, even though I am sure that the discounts do not "hurt" the financials of these companies. Something similar happened yesterday.

I went out to get the mail. There were a couple pieces, and as I stood outside having a cigarette, I looked them over. One was obvious junk mail, being a flyer/postcard for some local business that we aren't interested in. The other was an envelope from one of the (many) funeral homes in the Valley. My first thought, was, I'm barely into my 50's, why are they marketing me already? I felt singled out. But it was simply addressed to "The (LASTNAME) Family". I opened it, expecting to see brochures for the services they provide, and was somewhat surprised to not see any. There was a latter, asking that we complete a survey, and mail it back in a pre-paid envelope provided. In exchange, they will send a "Final Wishes Organizer". Hmmmmm. I glanced through the questions, and decided, why not? I'll be doing that here shortly. They do ask for name/address/telephone/email, and I think it safe to just do name & address. Maybe the email - to one of my spam email receiving accounts. If they send the booklet, it might have info we have not thought of.

Wow. Weird how my mind works. I started the post about how wonderful it is to celebrate 32 years of marriage to talking about death. Coincidence?

PeacE

Bad News - Good News

 After writing the post on Monday, about how unwell Daisy had been, etc, she passed away that afternoon. The Wife was upset, as I had expected, but not as bad as it could have been. After all, we knew with her health that Daisy wasn't much longer for this mortal plane. Youngest dealt with it well, and helped me with Daisy's remains.

The house feels somewhat emptier without the dog here. I find myself looking at Daisy's preferred places to recline throughout the house, and seeing them empty. Yes, with three cats still  here, it does make a difference. I guess we won't have to worry about buying dog food now...

The Oldest Son came by today. We had texted yesterday about his car FINALLY being ready from the repair shop, that he confirmed this morning. So I went with him and drove it back to our house. This will become the Youngest's car, if he ever takes his permit test. We are compensating the Oldest a certain amount off what he owes us (from his newer car purchase). It was nice to catch up a little bit with him this morning - The Oldest that is. Plans are for him to come back over Monday (his day off) and we will go take care of the registration/title changes, so I will get to see him again soon.

It is only Wednesday, and already this week has been filled with good and bad news. Thursday is the 32nd anniversary for the Wife and I. We are celebrating on Saturday by taking a morning hot-air balloon ride. It is something the Wife has always wanted to do. I'm feeling some anxiety about the ride. Between a fear of falling, and bouts of vertigo, I am not sure how enjoyable it will be for me. I think I should be able to be okay as long as I am not leaning over the rail.... be too easy for the Wife to push me over anyways.

PeacE

Death Is Among Us

 For the last several weeks, the health of our dog, Daisy, has deteriorated so much that she looks terrible. She is a Chihuahua-Dachsund mix, so imagine a stretched out long-wise chihuahua. Daisy is approximately fifteen years old, and is truly at the 'old age' of her a lifespan. For the last week, we have not been able to get her to eat much of anything, and have tried variations of soft dog foods with not much success. Thus, her weight has severely dropped, and one can see her bones protruding from her skin now. This morning, I rose from bed to find her almost directly under my feet, still as could be. As I watched for a moment, trying to process if she was dead, I noticed she still yet took breath, though I fear it may not last through the day.

I say through the day, but who truly knows. Last Monday I was talking to the Youngest, about how I was not sure how much longer Daisy would last, and he had mentioned he expected maybe three more days. Note that was last week. He seems pretty well prepared for her passing away. I don't know if I could say the same for the Wife - she tends to be so full of empathy most times. Personally, I didn't care for the dog. I never wanted her, and she was brought home against my advice. I have already stated we should not get another dog after Daisy passes. Cats at least can 'take care of themselves' where dogs can't, and I would like the ability to do overnight trips without having to worry about the dog's care.

Sigh.

We have not bothered with having a veterinarian look at her. Both of us are fairly sure it is just simply old age for her. Our previous dog of seventeen years, was the same breed, and her end was very similar. Besides, who needs to rack up those kind of costs, am I right? Body disposal is now my worry. I would rather just put it in a garbage bag for collection (not allowed) because I don't want to pay the money to have to transport it somewhere and pay for the animal disposal. But will probably end up in the backyard, digging a hole (as we did for the cat, Nimbus, that passed some time ago). Not supposed to do that within the city either, but oh well.

Makes me think back to watching my Dad the year prior to him passing away. No, he didn't 'waste away' like some, but one could see parts of him going. I always considered him a very intelligent person, and as his speech became harder to interpret due to the cancer making him say wrong words/phrases.... just one of the ways. There were the physical ones - becoming paralyzed on the right arm/leg, excessive weight gain due to meds, so many other things.

Sigh.

I'm getting maudlin, and I haven't even been drinking. Onto other things for now....

PeacE

All I know ...

 ... is that it is nearly 2am, and here I am sitting at the computer, unable to fall asleep. I went to bed around 11:30 after watching a movie ('The Pale Blue Eye' on Netflix - was pretty good). I worked a couple crosswords on my tablet, then tucked in to get some sleep. Somehow, sleep never made the agenda evidently.  I'm going to watch an episode or two of something that seems boring, drink some coconut/lime water (picked up at the store at discount price, and it sounded interesting) then probably head back to the bed around 3-4 to try the sleep game again.

Tomorrow I will be sending yet another email to the Company, letting them be aware (AGAIN) that I am available for work. They acknowledged the one I sent two weeks ago, but since have not contacted me in anyway. I don't know if there just isn't any work, or what. I think this time I will send a copy to a person I know that I usually correspond with when a project is starting. Maybe that will help results.

Did not do too much this weekend. The Wife and I went for bbq Saturday at a place over in the 'Slope area called Little Miss BBQ. It has some of the best I have ever had in town. A bit pricey, but always worth it. We followed that up with a trip to the 99 Cent store, as the Wife said we needed a few things. Got my coconut water there, and found a bag of Japanese peanuts which turned out to be pretty tasty. I priced them on Amazon, and I got the bag I did for 1/3 the cost they go for regularly. I'm going back tomorrow (later today) to see if they have anymore left. And maybe another jug of this coconut water - it's pretty good too. Sunday we just stayed around the house.

Still working on my books I am reading for reviews. The first one, I have been working on for a few days now. It is much longer than most others I have read, and it starts a new trilogy to one I read many years ago. Still have a good third of it to go before finishing, so maybe a bit busy the next couple of days.

PeacE

It's Too Early ...

 Thanks to my bladder, I am awake this morning just after 5am. It's not a medical issue - having to pee this early in the morning. I blame it on how much I drank yesterday. I did go through quite a bit of water... Either way, after the trip to the bathroom, I find myself not able to fall back asleep. I'm sure a nap will find itself on my schedule probably later this morning.

Nothing much to write about today. We had a day of rain earlier this week, and I am not sure if it is the weather changes, or all the walking I did on Tuesday (the day of rain), but I was achy yesterday. I still feel it somewhat this morning as well. The joints just like to protest when having to be used. 

Got four more books I need to get read, and reviews written, so I guess I should go do that.

PeacE

Wasted Effort

 I did get out yesterday. It was near noon when I motivated myself to get going to do the errands that needed done. Grocery store was first, where, yes, I did get more stuff than I really needed ( I was hungry) but also texted the Wife to get anything she could think of. Then it was off to Savers. They did not have any casual pants in my size that I wanted. Ended up choosing a pair of black jeans. As I was checking out, the lady assisting at the self-checkout (no actual cashiers here) came over and said something about a discount day. I know they have color-coded tags, and certain days a color gets 'XX' discount. As she finished putting in my 30% discount, she says "the senior discount is always nice."

Now I don't mind saving a couple bucks, but, really? So I say to her, that I am not a senior though. She looks at me, and glances at my beard, then back to my eyes, and softly says that she is sorry she made that assumption. I just smiled and said I'm only 51, but a discount is a discount. 

People always judging these days....

So, I was out last night to meet up with a buddy, when I got an email from the Court. Turns out my group was not needed today (YAY!) so no trip downtown today. Also, no need to buy the jeans (discount or not). Though I suppose I will keep them, in case.

PeacE

Civic Duty, My Ass...

 Last month I received in the mail a little postcard "requiring my immediate response". Of course, it was that nasty Jury Summons that I was hoping to never see again. It's a "civic duty" to be called to serve on a jury. Bah! It sucks! Over the past 30 years, I have received this summons 9 times. I have served once, on a 2-day trial, been sent home from the courts 6 times, did not have to appear 1 time, and, yes I am publicly admitting that I broke the rules and could suffer penalties, but I refused to respond or acknowledge or even go for one of the summons. That last one was about 3 years ago, in the middle of moving between houses, so I figured I could claim it was sent to the wrong address. You would think, in the Valley of over a million people (combined living area/cities) that there would be more people to randomly select from, instead of me having to do it almost like every 3 years. The selection system sucks!

Either way, tomorrow is my "special day". Of course, I will call this evening after 5pm, to see if my group number is still needed to attend or not. Here's hoping I won't have to go. In the meantime, now they are FORCING me to go out and spend money. Huh, you ask? Well, I don't own any pants (aside from a pair of trousers for my wedding/funeral suit). The court 'frowns' upon shorts (even in Arizona) so I have to go out today and find a pair. Savers and Goodwill are first on the list to see if they have any in my size, preferred color(s), and in decent shape. 

Sigh. I really hate clothes shopping, even if it is for me.

On the plus side, I have put shopping off until closer to the noon hour so I have an excuse to get something to eat from somewhere. I'm thinking Popeye's, but have not decided. A sub sandwich sounds good, too. And while I am out, I should stop at the local grocery and see what kind of cheaper soda I can get (aka Big K brand). My usual Mtn Dew/Pepsi products are getting pricey, even at the dollar store. Maybe look at some snacks, too. Oh man, I better eat before I go to the store....

Anyways, welcome to my whiny day (thanks AZ courts).

PeacE