Sammy comes for a visit and now he goes home!

My son flew in from Dallas a week or so ago and what a time we had.  Rather then rent a car or have me drive up to Denver, he opted for the little plane that shuttles passengers down here.  Methinks he may not make that choice again.  He is a seasoned traveler, unlike his stay at home mother, but this was his first flight on in a "crop duster.  His first clue that this might be different was when he stepped through the door and was told they would need to "balance the load".  He chose to set right behind the pilot so he would not have to look out the window.  He deemed the pilot to be a school boy out on Spring Break.  The co pilot seemed to be his baby sitter.  He was first instructed that in case of an emergency he would be in charge of unlatching the door and kicking it open!  And he took the orders very seriously!

The flight down was only 39 minutes from take off to landing, but he still had time to look around the cabin.  He spotted an instruction manual in the flap on the back of the co pilot's seat and wondered why they were required to carry them, being seasoned pilots and all.  At that moment the lady co pilot reached back and got the book, and my optimistic little son was sure she was reading the part entitled "How to Land the Plane."  But he did take precautions when they said they would be landing in Pueblo in just a few moments.  He braced one foot on the aisle seat and his arm against the fuselage.  OMG!  I would have given an arm and a leg to have been on that plane!  When he came down the stairs and into the lobby he was laughing that hysterical laughter that is a sign that one has been wound too tight and is now coming unwound.  Good to see.

And home to dear sisters we went.  Dona is my middle child.  She looked at Sam and the conversation that ensued is as follows:
"Oh, Sammy!  You have no hair!"
"Never had any.  Male pattern baldness!"
"You are getting pudgy!"
"Well, I have not been working out because I am busy at work."
"Still with so and so?"
"Yes."
"Wow you are lucky to still have the same one after all this time.  You are lucky to have anyone!"
At this point Sam turned to me and said, "Boy she really missed her calling!  She should have been a motivational speaker, because she is sure motivating me towards suicide!"

We did have a lovely 5 days which passed much to quickly.  And then it was back to the airport to send the little guy home.

Sammy at the check in counter.

In the "holding area"

 

Taxiing down the runway!

Up, up and

away!

Sam makes the flying thing look so easy.  I wanted to take a train trip this summer.  I could leave here and stop in Garden City and spend a day with the girls, then to Hutchinson and spend a few days with the sisters, and then Kansas City and visit Shirley, on to St. Louis to see Jeffery and Fred, and then finally to Dallas.  See, the train does not go North and South, just East and West.  And the train ride is roughly 24 hours with all the layovers and such.  Plane goes straight.  Much quicker.  I labor under the notion that if the good Lord wanted me to fly he would have made me a bird!

But I have only been on an airplane once in my life and that was because Kenny and Clifford tricked me and I almost showed them how to have massive coronary over a mountain pass!  But that is another story all together.

So, the son is back in Dallas, the girl's are back in Kansas and I am once more home alone.  Life goes on and time passes.  Right now, I am off to take care of the geese, then downstairs to sew and then up one level to list on eBay.  I leave you with this video from youtube.  Rather made my day.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z1mhPVs0llI

 

Copied directly from MSN News in case you missed it on the PFLAG Blog.

Following her son's beating death 15 years ago, Judy Shepard has become a forceful voice for gay rights and a sort of mother figure for gay teens turned away by their own families.

NEW YORK — The mother who championed gay rights after her son was tied to a fence and beaten to death couldn't bear to sit through the play that has helped keep his memory alive for the nearly 15 years since his murder.
But this weekend, at the opening of a double-billing of Moises Kaufman's "The Laramie Project" and "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Judy Shepard — seated in an aisle seat to allow for an easy escape — soldiered through the entire five-hour production, which recalls the story of Matthew Shepard's death in 1998.
"I just really didn't feel I needed to watch it because I lived it. And so many of the scenes bring back such horrific memories. I've never felt comfortable crying in public," Shepard said just before the Saturday performance. "It's been 15 years. I should be able to do this now."
Shepard made it through with the help of hugs from well-wishers at the intermissions.
Kaufman, a playwright and director who leads the Tectonic Theater Project, recalled the Shepard murder as a watershed moment that helped create a generation of activists and energize "straight allies" to the cause of gay rights.
"All of a sudden we had an image, we had an event, that operated as a catalyst," said Kaufman, a Venezuelan native who lives in New York.
The original play was born from the question of why Shepard's murder resonated more than other hate crimes, Kaufman said. The play has been staged more than 1,000 times.
Ten years after Shepard's death, Kaufman and Tectonic returned to Laramie, Wyo., to produce an epilogue and to interview Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, who are serving life sentences for the murder.
Nine U.S. states have legalized same-sex marriage, and in March the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage under federal law as being between a man and a woman, and whether Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage, should be struck down.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER
Henderson and McKinney confessed to meeting the 21-year-old at a Laramie bar on the night of Oct. 6-7, pretending to be gay and offering him a ride home, with the intent to rob him. They grew enraged after Shepard made a sexual advance, they said, and took him to a desolate area in the outskirts of town, tied him to a fence and repeatedly struck him in the head with a handgun.
Shepard was close to death when he was discovered 18 hours later and he died in a Colorado hospital on Oct. 12. In her 2010 book, "The Meaning of Matthew," Judy Shepard wrote that while she was at her son's side, she was barely aware of the rallies by thousands of well-wishers in cities across the country.
Judy Shepard, who is soft-spoken and shy despite her years in the limelight, says she is a reluctant advocate. But she has become a forceful voice for gay rights and a sort of mother figure for gay teens turned away by their own families.
"Many of us feel that Judy is the mother we never had. But it goes way beyond that," Kaufman said. "It's a story of a person who was put in an untenable situation and got the skills to triumph in that situation."
Shepard, who still lives in Wyoming, heads the Matthew Shepard Foundation and has fought for gay rights in her home state and for a federal hate crimes bill, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009 with Shepard at his side.
"I did what people didn't expect me to do, which was not go away," she said. "As a straight person, I have a gravitas that someone in the gay community saying the things that I say would not have."
She said she has been frustrated that change in Wyoming, also the setting of the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," has come slowly. The state has no hate crimes law and this year the legislature rejected a gay marriage bill and a domestic partnership bill for same-sex couples.
Before the performance, a man who said he was about the same age as Matthew Shepard would be now tearfully thanked Shepard for her advocacy and said gay people "could not have had a better angel and a better mother."
Shepard's eyes also filled with tears, but she quickly regained her composure, saying: "This is what happens when you piss off somebody's mom."
 ——

No call lists and unsubscribe emails.

Seems like every couple weeks my e-mail box begins to fill up overly quickly.  This is because AOL does not kick everything that is spam over to the spam box which I can delete.  And when I delete the spam I am really not solving anything, because they just send more.  So I read each one until I reach the unsubscribe link and go that way.  So today I cut the ties on super cheap Viagra, declined funding Diane De Gette's run for congress, lost the contact with match.com, lost my chance at a time share and unsubscribed from Adstars 5 times.  I feel good about all this though I do resent having to unsubscribe from something I never subscribed to in the first place.
I have had lord only knows how many phone calls from companies wanting to sell me supplemental insurance and this confuses me.  I was under the impression there is only a small window of time that I can change insurances with, but they do not seem to have any time limit on when they can call and ding away at me.  Seems like the "Do Not Call" list is just a list and nothing really happens because it does not really stop anyone from calling.
Oh, and a survey!  Click.
And I am still fielding phone calls for a grandson that lived here  13 years ago and someone else who never lived here, but used my phone number for what ever reason.  And try to tell these people that I have lost contact numbers for them.
Oh, and today was Valentine Day so in honor of the big occasion, I dug out my wedding rings, just so I can remember that once upon a time, Valentine's Day actually mattered.  And better days are ahead.  Sam will be here on Saturday and so will two of the girls.  And I have a quilt in the quilter, the towels are off the loom and life in general is still good.  Or as good as it gets around here.
 

My take on the 18th Annual Chocolate Indulgence.

Welcome to the Chocolate Indulgence chocolate competition.  Here we have Susan and Adele, ready to accept my entry.  Since Dan had to work I also took his in for him.  And you know me and my better early than on time attitude.   I was the second one to bring my items.  Judging will be from 1:00 - 3:00 this afternoon.  So I drifted off to the YWCA to pick up Dan's ticket and then up to the hospital to see John  followed by meeting Tim at the Airport for lunch.

Here are my gluten free brownies and Dan's lace cookie w/bourbon butterscotch brownie waiting on the table for the judging.

And in case you think we were the only ones, take a look here!  Plenty of competition.

There were two tables of judges.  This is the table closest to where I sat.

Ah!  The auditors who are counting the ballots. 

See, each table has 6 judges and they taste every item.  It is then judged by each judge for flavor, appearance, texture, and creativity.  Flavor counts 40 points and the other 3 are worth 20 each.  The auditors then add the points and choose a winner.  No peeking for me!  I tried, but they did not seem to like that, so I just had to wait until that evening.

 

  Poor little Lou.  In all fairness, I do not know how many of you have tried the gluten free products, but they do no stand a chance in competition with regular product made with wheat, and I knew this.  I was sure I would not win, because of that.  My brownies were very good (for the record), but they finished some where way down the line and went to the "luck of the draw" table.  I am sure they found a good home!

And the first place winner goes to Mr. Dan Leavenworth and his Lace Cookie with Bourbon Butterscotch Brownie!  I shine with pride!  Dan is quite the chef extraordinaire!

 

And this concluded our evening at the 18th Annual Chocolate Indulgence hosted by the YWCA to benefit the Women's Shelter and Domestic Violence Programs.  I am not familiar enough with the work at the YWCA to name all the people connected with the organization, so I am not going to say I am.  I do know a few people there and love them dearly.  Dennis and  Brandi are the two I deal with most.  Oh and the lovely lady at the desk.  And the girl in the office behind Dennis.  And Doris Kester's daughter.  And I love their pool!  It is 90 degrees which is good for my old bones.

 

I do know the YWCA has been a bulwark in Pueblo society forever and I am going to start volunteering there, I hope.  Just as soon as I get a little time, because I feel this organization has done more to bolster women than a lot of other places and let's face it kids, where would we be without women?

 

And am I going back next year?  Let me see.  Chocolate everything.  Eat free with your admission ticket.  Chocolate everything.  Eat free with your admission ticket.  That answer would be

"Hell, Yeah!"

 

Big day today and next week is coming up fast!

I am setting here in my pajama's thinking about what a wonderful time I had at the Chocolate Indulgence last night and this is not a good thing, because pretty quick there are going to be a bunch of people show up here to load books out of my garage.  I told Ross I would make some Monkey Bread and coffee.  But first I have to go feed Nancy's cats.  Well, before that I have to get dressed and here I set.
See, PFLAG is going to have a big book sale up at PCC.  I told you my garage is getting very full!  Also someone is bringing another load of furniture and the place is starting to strain at the seams as it is!  So here is my plan. 
I am going to get dressed.  I will run over and take care of the cats.  I will hurry back here and throw the Monkey bread in the oven and throw together a few breakfast burritos.  After they leave I will clean up my mess and turn on the computer down stairs and download the pictures I took yesterday and hopefully figure out how to do the slide show thing and then do my blog on the Chocolate Indulgence by the YWCA to benefit the women's shelter and domestic violence program.  Empowering women is what it is all about. 
So, you just check back later or maybe even tomorrow and I should have last night's report.  It was a most wonderful event and since this is the first time I have attended it, you will see it through my innocent little eyes!  For now, I am off in search of clothes!
And if you get a chance stop by the Pueblo Community College February 11 & 12 and check out our selection of books.  Going to be something for everyone!  And I will be there both days.  Hopefully I will be dressed!

Phases of my life

I was just sitting here with the Super Bowl on down stairs and not listening to it and I started thinking about different mantras I have had hang on my wall and how little impact they actually made in the grand scheme of things. 
Right after I married Earl Duane, I made a little cross stitch thing that said "Home Sweet Home". 
Two  divorces and 5 kids later I had a bumper sticker that said "If It Feels Good Do It." 
Then I changed cars and husbands and of course a new bumper sticker.  "Horn Broken.  Watch for finger!"  That was my rebellious years. 
Followed by "Love Many, Trust Few, Always Paddle Your Own Canoe."
Then came Kenny and I began to grow into myself.  The needlework on the bathroom wall now said "Ewe's not fat, Ewe's fluffy!  That was the cutesy one. 
Then came "When you are over the hill, you pick up speed."
 That was followed immediately by  "You know you are old when everything either, sags, dries up, or leaks."
Today I stare at my final thought for the day.  "Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most."

Ten years and holding....

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my late husbands passing.  While acceptance is a given, it is still a date that is marked and called an "anniversary".  Suffice it to say I still miss him, but years have changed the sharp cutting pain to a dull ache of every day existence.  I am just thankful every day that I had the time with him and know that it was a special relationship that can never be duplicated, nor should I try.  I am the product of all my past experiences and I thank God for that!
That being said, I laid awake late last night thinking of things and it seemed that my mind wandered back to Nickerson, Kansas.  I think in my last post on Nickerson, we had just moved to 709 Strong Street which was the house my father bought on an acre of ground.  Might have been 2 acres or 3.  No way of knowing now.  It had a front and back porch and a root cellar.  Now that root cellar was some place I would not have gone for love nor money.   It was just a hole in the ground with steps chopped into the dirt and a wooden door.   It was accessible from the back porch and more dirt was piled on top of it so it appeared to be fairly stable.  Mother said if a tornado came we were to run down there and close the door behind us.  I am here to tell you that not a way in hell was that going to happen in my life time!
Ever seen one of those things?  There are spiders down there that have teeth and crawly things that could stop your heart just by looking at you.  When I exited the back door I always ran across the front of the opening in case some of those things had decided to march on us.  Tornado?  I laugh at danger, but not the creepy things.  To this day I can go into convulsions thinking about that root cellar.
Mother raised rabbits and other fowl, so chicken poop between our toes was a given rather than an exception.  We had the one pair of shoes when school started in the fall and by spring we were grown out of them and since we were not going any where we did not need shoes.  One day I spotted a chicken that had apparently swallowed something that had a string attached to it.  I suspect it was a button.  I tried to catch it and pull it out, but the chicken was having none of that! 
We had a sink in the kitchen that drained through a pipe that ran through the wall and emptied in the back yard.  Mother had Muscovy ducks and that was their favorite place to gather.  Now that was a nasty mess and had the health department (had there been one back in those times) ever ventured by I fully expect there would have been some prison sentences handed out to our parents for child abuse!
But what I was thinking about mostly last night was a big cactus that was in our front yard.  Lord that thing had needles on it over an inch long and sharp as a mother-in-law's tongue!  All we had to do was walk past that thing and somebody was going to have to dig the sticker out.  What we really liked to do that was the most fun, was try to throw each other into the heart of the cactus.  The simple act of trying got our little fannies warmed good.  Mother had no sense of humor at all on that.  And dad was never home because...who knows.
And we had a mulberry tree that was the really good kind that produced black mulberries.  Those were fun to walk barefooted on because in the summer they were cool.  Not very good to eat unless you picked them at the precise moment when they were at the peak of sweetness.  If you went 3 seconds past then they were rotten.
And the currant bushes!  There was another fruit that had to be eaten right as soon as it turned black.  A second before and they puckered you up and a second after and they were worthless.  Birds liked them.    Course the cats liked birds and the bushes were low so picking was easy for the cats.  And we learned the cycle of life up close and personal more than once.  That coupled with the fact that my dad still farmed with horses and they were getting very old and dying made us rather callous to death.  I remember when a horse would die, someone called the "dead animal wagon" so they could be taken to the glue factory.  A man showed up with a big wagon that had a winch on it.  This was pulled out and secured around the neck of the hapless horse and a motor rolled the cable in and the horse ended up unceremoniously on the top of the heap of dead animals.  Sometimes their feet ended up sticking out over the top and that was rather sad.  These were animals who had once been very vibrant and dad usually kept their tails braided and tied with a ribbon.  I think about that a lot as my road gets shorter, but only in a fleeting moment and never with any great sadness.
And so I bid Nickerson adieu for the day.  I will be back.  There are a lot of memories there of things that will never be again and can not ever be forgotten.  Until then I am recalling something that goes "May the road rise to meet you and may the wind always be at your back!"  God only knows where that came from.




 

Chocolate Indulgence,Women's Shelter, and the YWCA from my side of the street!

Ever been to the YWCA annual Chocolate Indulgence?  Me neither, but that is about to change.   Several things have transpired to bring this little experience to the fore front.  First I have a kitchen that was designed by me and built by my dear late husband that is every cooks dream.  Lots of cabinets, lots of counter space, an island in the middle, stainless steel sinks, electric oven, and  cookware and bakeware with all the mixers and utensils one could only wish for at my fingertips.   That is the first thing.

 The second thing is a friend who loves to cook, but is limited by space at his home.  That coupled with my favorite hobby being the love of eating makes this a match made in heaven!  He started yapping about the competition at the Chocolate Indulgence and I was listening with one side of my brain as I am known to do.  I did keep picking up words like cream, butter, chocolate, baking, tasting and other hints that something good might be coming out of this little kitchen yet!  So by the time it dawned on me something was happening, he already had a plan.
So, I got online and downloaded all the info and the entry forms, added the event to my desktop calendar and began to take an active interest in what was going on here!  Having read the YWCA mission statement  (YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.  Eliminating racism & empowering women. )   I decided this was a charity worthy of my attention and maybe a few dollars.  Lord only knows I could have used one of these back in the day.  Granted I am a little late getting on the band wagon on this one, but as a very wise woman (namely me) says, "Better late than never!"  So he has his list of things he is making and I have my one thing I will do.
I have already consumed two cakes, 4 pounds of candy, 11 cupcakes and three salted nuts to cleanse my palette!  I am starting to get a little excited here!  ( A little excited and a lot FAT! )  So we have to have our stuffat the convention center Friday, February 8 between 9 and 11:30 and then the judging is from 1-3.  I hope to go to the judging, but not sure my heart will take that.  I am  about to talk myself out of entering here!  Better be careful.  I hate to go aginst him in competition, but what the hell! 
I sure hated that they closed the pool at the YWCA.  It was so warm and nice, but I understand that our economy is kind of in the crapper right now and it took a lot of money to keep that thing open.  I learned how to swim in that pool a few years back.  Had that "learning to swim thing" on my bucket list for many years and decided I better just do it and get it over with.  My teacher was Doris Kester and she is such a lovely lady.  Well, in all fairness, everyone at the "Y" is just peachy.  And I love that Dennis Lowery to pieces!
I am putting you a link right here so you can go get all the info straight from the horses mouth, so to speak.  And look me up when you get there.  I am taking my grand daughter, who is a looker, and I am the little old grey headed lady beside her with chocolate smeared all over her face.  If I get a chance you may find me sitting in the chocolate fountain.  Yeah, I think I can manage that one!  So until then, Cheerio!


 

January 16, 2013. Lunch at my house with my new floors.

From left to right around the table are Faye Gallegos, Maurine Hale, Sister Barbara, Sister Nancy.

 

Under the table is Elvira, Mistress of the Night who thinks she is in charge.

Sister Barbara and Sister Nancy

Pastor Faye listening intently and Pastor Maurine taking notes.

 

This little gathering was one of my better ideas.  What better way to break in my new floor than to have four sainted women over for lunch and discuss a matter dear to all of our hearts?  Just nothing else would do.  A little background here will help you understand.  Pastor Faye is a retired UCC minister and lives in Colorado Springs.  She was Interim pastor at First Congregational when I attended there.  More importantly she was then and still remains my very dear friend and confidante.  She marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and was most vocal and active in the fight for Civil Rights passage.  She is very active in all ministry work including the animal shelters and Heifer International.  And she raised kids at the same time.

Pastor Maurine is very active in the UCC Conference and various groups around Colorado Springs one of which she was representing this day.   This group takes on a project and this time it is Sister Nancy and her Los Pobres Migrant Center.  (An aside here.  Maurine is married to Max Hale, who is still very active in Pastors for Peace and does a blog that you can reach by clicking here! )  While her husband is retired, Maurine remains very active.
When I write about people I usually like to list 4 or 5 things that they will be remembered for, but that is not going to work for this bunch of women. 
So I have introduced you to the two UCC ministers and now we move on to Sister Nancy and her mission with the migrant workers of Southern Colorado.  I finally got a little of the skinny on how Los Pobres came to be the operation it is today.  Seems that many years ago , 1979, to be exact, Sister Nancy was having dinner with Father Gallagher at his parsonage at Sacred Heart of Avondale.  As the evening progressed there would be a knock at the door.  Father Gallagher would excuse himself and step out for about 10 minutes and then come back and set down and resume his job as host.  About the third time this happened, Sister Nancy decided to "spy on him", and was surprised to see him sacking up clothes and food for a man who was clearly an illegal immigrant. 
When she confronted him, he confessed and she told him, "Well, it is clear you are sort of organized, but let me help you and I think together we can do a lot more good."  In the beginning of their operation, it was run from a room in the parsonage.  Sister Nancy began to keep records of the immigrants who were accessing provisions and services.  Of course all this was done behind closed doors as the workers were all illegally in the United States.
But thank God for people who will do what ever is necessary and trust that good will win in the outcome.  In the year 2000 they built a small shed behind the rectory and the operation was moved to that area.   This is how it works in the real world...People die, babies are born, INS arrests and deports illegals to Mexico, women cry, and every day the business of living is a matter of course.  Children who do not know where Mexico is, are sent back there to live in a land they have never seen with people they have never known.
(An aside here  to a personal experience.  I think it was back in about 1980-81, I had daughter Debbie and her husband living in this town with or near me.  Patty and Dona were also here.  Well, Tex and Patty decided to go "work in the fields", since it was ready work and they could make lots of money.  So they piled into my Chevy and off they went.  8 hours later they returned.  Patty's eye was bloodshot and looked very bad.  Seems they were picking peas and Tex had pulled a weed and flipped it over his shoulder into her eye.  They were sunburnt beyond belief, exhausted, dehydrated, generally out of sorts with life.  The opened their hands to give me the fruits of their labors.  This grand total amounted to $3.28.  I was disappointed, to say the very least.)
The point with that story is that wages have nothing to with hours spent bent over in the hot sun.  I recall several years back that there was a lot of uproar about the illegals coming into this country and taking jobs from the locals.  So Pueblo County "cracked down" and the illegals were deported and none came from Mexico.  As I recall, the crops rotted in the fields because no one came to pick the produce.  I think they have lightened up since that little fiasco!
Back to Los Pobres.  In 2002 they received a grant from the Packard Foundation and built the big shed they are in now.  There are 5,000 families registered.  200-220 families weekly access the food bank.  The center distributes 1000 pounds of pinto beans, 600 pounds of rice and 720 cans of vegetables.  Everything at the center is done by volunteers.   Donations are made to the center by word of mouth, mostly.  Got clothes you want to donate?  Sister Nancy east of town,  Furniture, blankets, diapers, hygiene products, appliances, pots and pans, and on and on.  Sister Nancy east of town.  Everyone knows who that is.   I have a bag of coats in my car awaiting delivery.  Last summer I packed up a house full of clothes and household goods.  Took me 7 trips, but I got it all out there.  They are always in need of cooking oil, flour, beans, rice, canned vegetables.  I have a brochure here that I would love to send you.  Just call me.  719-546-1555. 
Well, I have once more digressed.  We did have a lovely lunch of one of my better offerings; home made chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, some sort of veggie and gluten free biscuits with cheese and garlic just because I wanted to make them.  Finished that off with a fresh peach cobbler with ice cream.  So after several hours of visiting, I gave them a tour of my little corner of the world and then they hopped in their cars and away they went.  All things considered, I thin we had a very lovely day and would love to do this again very soon.
Want to join us?
 

I am getting behind here!

Well, I was just checking my stats and happened to notice that I have not been on here for over a week!  That will never do.  Do not think that these little hands have been idle, because they have not!  My floors are laid and the contents are slowly making their way back into their respective positions.   They do not do this alone, you know!  And the little cold snap we have endured for God only knows how long has the goose tank frozen completely solid.  To the untrained goose herder, it sounds simple, but to the geese it is a crucial matter.  They need water to survive and when the temperature continues to hover below 32 degrees, any water I carry out there freezes.  This means I have to do it several times a day.  This is starting to take a toll on the back that was already headed out the door.
And eBay continues to be a thriving place in my world.  Granted I do not sell as much as Eric or other friends, but I do manage to send out a package or two every day.  That sounds simple, huh?  The package usually contains a seed catcher, lotion, or something that I have made or will need to make to order before it can get into the package.  Right now I am finishing up a big order for my new friend in Alabama. 
Well, that is not quite true.  Right now I am trying to figure out how I sent this post off into cyber world and got it back mostly gone.  If you ever run into anyone who thinks they are smarter than a computer and have Windows 8 all figured out, you just let me know, because I want to meet that person.  No one is smarter than this computer!
And there is that book I am working on.  Well, two of them actually.  I have put Chapter One...The Antlions Den on hold while I do the fantasy novel of what life would have been had I met Sherman earlier in life.  That is entitled Long ago and Not Very Far Away.  It can be found at http://delilahsdatingdilemma.blogspot.com/ .
Also life creeps in and maybe a grand kid comes by, or a step daughter, or the loom calls me to weave, or meet the kids for lunch, or Daisy wants to go to the vet, or Elvira needs groomed, and also three is that Weavers Guild meeting, lunch with a friend, grocery shopping or a myriad of other things that need my attention.
The next post will be the luncheon I had with the Catholic Sisters and the ministers from Colorado Springs.  I will have to do that on the downstairs computer, because I have not found a slot on this computer to put my camera card in so I can have pictures.  Always something here in the real world, isn't it?
Off to sew.

And this is how the day went down.

The guys from Carpet Clearance Warehouse showed up at my door about 8:30 Wednesday morning.  Jason ramrodded the little fellows inside, pointed this way and that way, and Casey and Ron went right to work.  In very short order the old carpet and pad were gone.  The pad went to the dumpster and the carpet went to the front yard.  The carpet went to a new home in Boone where a man named Leroy uses it to insulate his chicken houses.  By the time the years of dirt that had filtered down through the carpet was sucked up and gone, I was breathing much better.  By 9:30 the first strips of flooring were in place and by 10:30 the living room was covered.

Then to the kitchen and dining room which were more of a challenge.  By that time Jason had left and some one else had come in his place.  Then another change and finally at 2:00 the floors were done.  Oh, don't be mistaken, that did not mean I was done!  The guys moved the entertainment center in off the back patio and moved the china hutch into the dining room where it belonged.  Deven and I would do the rest.  But first it was off to Lowe's to buy the little pads that go under the couch and table legs.  Home again, home again, jiggity jog, after a quick stop to pick up some chicken nuggets. 
We moved the table in from the patio, putting the felt things under it.  Then the chairs.  Then the couches had to be felted and moved where they belonged.  So now it was starting to look like this:

 

Now isn't that pretty!  The name of this is Sunset Oak.  Tomorrow the base boards will be put in place.  I have made rugs and I will put them down.  Then it should be ready for my company on Saturday.  I am having Sister Nancy, Sister Barbara, Pastor Faye and Pastor Maureen over for a nice lunch of Chicken and Noodles with mashed potatoes and some sort of veggie.  Home made rolls, and a dessert of something scrumptuous, perhaps a root beer float.  I know these women eat like a bunch of rabbits so I am giving them comfort food.  And Deven and Mikey are going to drop in to see Pastor Faye.  That will be a nice surprise for her.

 

As for me, I am setting in my office looking down at my kingdom and wondering why I did not get rid of that damn carpet years ago.  I think I am really going to like  this and I thank Jason for doing such a good job.  I know he had planned on doing it a few days earlier, but he wound up with pneumonia and landed in the hospital, but he made it and now it is done and I am very happy.

I will take better pictures when we get the base boards and the rest of the furniture in place.  Looks kind of Spartan right now, but you know I will have crap all over the place very soon.  For now, I think I will just go weave a little bit before I put the tired little body to bed.

 

Good night and sweet dreams.



What a way to spend a Sunday!

Here is the goose house when I opened it this morning.  It is beginning to look pretty nasty.  I would not want to sleep in there, would you?  My 13 little geese are certainly more deserving of something better.  Oh, look what I have in the back seat of my car!  I think I know what to do.

The man at the feed store looked at me like I had lost my marbles when I ordered a bale of straw and handed him the big black bag.  He thought I was nuts when I told him to slip that right down over that bale.  I had to help him because I do not think he had done this before.  Then when I told him to just toss it in the back seat he told me it would not go.  But this was not my first rodeo and I knew it would.  So I told him just put it through the door and slide it across the seat and close the door.  How simple it was then.  The real trick is not actually getting it in the car, the trick is getting it out without the bag breaking and leaving straw all over the seat.  That was my job.

So I jumped up bright and early this morning and traipsed out to the goose house with my shovel, broom, heavy coat and gloves.  Lyn did not know I was going to do this today so I did not have to get the sermon about wearing a mask and all that.  I did have to stop about half way through because my little fingers were very cold and I feared frostbit.  But with peraverance, in just a little over an hour it looked like this:

And then I filled the feeder .

And to make thier day complete, I ran them a big pond on water because the stock tank is frozen and I think it will remain that way until the spring thaw.

 

And Icarus checked it all out and pronounced it finished!  I headed for the shower!

 

So tonight I will sleep good knowing the geese are warm and dry tonight with new straw.  And let me tell you this is one chore I am glad is done for a few months.  A friend of mine called earlier and asked what I did today since they did not come and do my floors.  I told him I cleaned the goose house and he said, " I told you I would do that!  At least I meant to tell you I would do it."  I told him, "Oh, I misunderstood.  I thought you said 'Pass the cookies'. "  MEN! 

 

The year in review.

Here we are at the end of the year again.  I have been here 71  times and it never ceases to amaze me how many people are off and running to the party.  Not me.  I can not stay awake that long.  I will put on a big pot of black eyed peas so I can eat them tomorrow because that will bring me good luck.  Or so I hear and the way my luck runs, I do not want to take any chances!  Actually, my life is pretty good.  Few bumps here and there, but nothing insurmountable. 
January started out with a bang.   My dear friend Sherman was told his cancer had become active and invaded  his spine.  This would set my course for the rest of the year, if not the rest of my life.  His friend, Libby, who was his office manager when he had his business in Denver, came to act as his liaison with the medical community.  She and I became very close friends over the next few months and remain so today.
His very good friend, Mark, came from St. Louis and stayed for 3 weeks while he was in radiation.  Mark and I became good friends and like Libby, it remains so.
I lost him on July 13, which just happened to be Friday the 13th.  I think he might have done that on purpose.  He just had that kind of sense of humor about him.
I met his family and keep in touch with them.  I plan on going to St. Louis this next year.  I have never been there.  Bret has.  The Babylock company is there so that is where he attends classes.  Maybe I will take the train.  That is my plan.  Stop in Hutch.  Stop in St. Louis.  Finish in Dallas, and then reverse the whole thing.  Sounds like a dream come true.  I will probably sleep all the way through the trip.
I "self" published my novel Chapter One...Loose Ends and was able to place a copy in Sherman's hands before he passed away.  That was a shining moment for both of us.  And while I have not sold nearly enough copies to pay the publishing costs, it has been very gratifying.  I am working on a story line now that he and his brother requested.  It is purely fantasy and is what "could have been."  That can be read here.  Some of the descriptions will be real and the basic story line covers some of our time together and how we met.  I think it will be fun.
I did remain active in SCAP through the year and we had luncheon every second Tuesday of the month and several cookouts in the park.  Attended the movies once.  Played miniature golf.  You know, just fun stuff to escape the harsh realities of life.  World AIDS Day was observed at the Hoag Library on December 1.  Great turnout.
We had the Weavers Sale at the Vail Hotel, the craft show at church and the Jingle Bell boutique.  All those were in November.  I made enough money from those to pay the house insurance and part of the taxes.  I missed my vacation this year. 
I sold some stuff and managed to come up with almost enough money to rip out my carpet and put in wood laminate floors on the main level.  I am busy now trying to empty those three rooms and paint.  You got to remember that I have ceilings that are 14 feet high (at least on one end) so painting is a major undertaking.  Old women and ladders are not conducive to anything good happening so I am looking for children who love me, or a windfall to pay a painter!  Neither one has happened yet.  My only hope, Dan, is busy moving his mother and brother up from Arkansas, so I am open to any suggestion that does not entail doing it myself!
As I reflect back on the past year, I think it was a good one.  The part about Sherman was very sad, but for the most part it was a good year.  I made lots of friends through Sherman and we had some good times.  While I miss him I am keeping busy and carrying on just like I had good sense.  And as for the painting thing...I started this blog early today and about 2  my friend Lyn showed up and now everything is painted except the tall wall, and that is coming tomorrow evening when I have her and her husband to supper.  Life indeed is good!

Happy New Year to you and yours!!

 

Today fur shall fly!

Hey, I got me a helper coming this morning.  I am so excited.  I got 2 bookcases full of books up into my bedroom.  Got the little desk Sherman gave me up there, also.  One corner empty, one old lady worn out.  Took the day off yesterday and just chilled.  Well, took the kids to lunch, met a fellow at the library to help him with his computer, came home and emptied, or nearly emptied, the top of the china cabinet.  Then I took a bunch of pictures for eBay and then wove about 8 inches on my towels.  They are going to be absolutely beautiful.
Last night the phone rang and who do you think was on the other end?  Grandson Mikey!  Mom said grandma needed some help and he was just hanging out so he could sure come and give me a hand if I wanted him to!  So I got to get out of the pj's a little early today.  Oh, yeah, and the guy is coming for my furnace inspection so today is going to be pretty busy. 
I picked a color to paint and I think it is going to be alright.  Bedroom is purple, bathroom is pink, office is aqua, and the main level will be something called desert straw, unless I go with the chenille.  Either way, all the stuff has to come off the walls.  Seems like a never ending job here.  Really makes me long for the good old days back in Nickerson, when mother was in charge!
I do want to tell you about my Christmas's there.  Seems like the first one in that house was when Jake broke it to me that there was no such animal as "you know who" (in case some one is reading this to a little kid!).  Seems that was the first year that mom and dad let him have the job of bringing in the stuff and putting it on top of the pieces of paper with our names on them.  We needed our socks, man!  Could not be hanging those up for some fat guy to shove stuff in and stretching them out of shape.  Many years later I did have a stocking, but it was no big deal by that time.
I heard him sneaking back to his little bed in the middle of the night and asked where he had been.  So he told me.  And it seemed that he had proof.  I was getting a tin doll house that held tiny people and tiny furniture.  That was hard to believe because that seemed like something a rich kid would have gotten  I learned later why.  Seemed my dear Aunt Helen Lang had taken pity on us that year and wanted to make our Christmas special.  She sure did!  Aunt Helen would pop in from time to time in our lives and when she went away there was always wonderful stuff left behind.  Once she enrolled me in Brownie, which is the really beginning of Girl Scouts.  Even bought me a Brownie uniform.  I was so cool!  I had a little brown beanie for my head.  Do they still have Brownie's?  I need to research that. 
The next Christmas that I remember I did not fare nearly as well.  Seems there was a book of children's poems, a red rubber ball and an orange, oh, and that godawful candy that was dry powdered sugar and something and then dipped in chocolate or something that was meant to be chocolate.  The candy I liked was the ribbon candy that tasted like licorice.  It seemed that we always made the trip to Grandma Haas's in Plevna every Christmas.  It was a very long ways.  I think 23 miles.  And it seemed the car always over heated.
Any way we always had a Christmas tree.  The reason we had one was because at school every room had a Christmas tree and when school was over for the year, the tree went home with some one poor who needed it and with at least 4 kids in school there, one of us was bound to luck out.  And here we would go down the road with our poor little tree with a few strands of tinsel clinging to the branches as if we were the proudest people in the town. 
I would like to interject here, that I do not regret growing up in poverty.  At that time we were not the only poor people at the school.  Everyone was poor.  It was right after the depression and the war had just ended.  We did what we could and we all hung together.  That is how things were done in those days.  The best we could hope for was that the rich girls would get new clothes so we could have their old ones.  Jake fared the worst because boys wore their clothes until they fell to pieces so he never got any new "old" clothes.
I have yet to have a Christmas when I do not remember back to Nickerson.  Seems we always go back to our roots and no matter how far away I roam,  I am still "from Nickerson." There is probably no one living in Nickerson today that remembers those Bartholomew kids. I probably would not know them, because I am still remembering the people who were there when I was.
My poor little jumbled mind is ready for bed, so "Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!"

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannaka, and HO! HO! HO!

Just want to throw the seasons greetings out to all my readers who ever and where ever you are!  I will be spending this evening in my church.  Tomorrow will be very informal as I am having lunch at the nursing home with a lady friend and her father .  After I will stop and visit Penny and Cathy, then the Mercer family and then home to pack belonging and move them out to the garage.  I want to be ready to start painting my main level by about Thursday.  Then rip out carpet and wait for the floor installers to come after the first week in January.  This has been a long time coming and I am excited.

So to all my friends out there in the real world, I send you the best of the best for this holiday season and the upcoming New Year that we all hope will bring peace and posterity! 

 

************************************************************************
Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's entirety. Lou Mercer

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

December 23, 1983

Thirty years ago Kenneth was putting a drive line in a tandem dump truck.  Gene Baugh was helping him.  The temperature was -15 degrees.  They went to Pueblo Brake and Clutch to pick up the repaired drive line and the place was closed.  What to do now?  We had discussed marriage for the past year, so he sent Gene home and turned to me and said, "Well, let's get this shittin' mess over with!"
Now what girl could resist a proposal like that?  While he jumped in the shower, I donned my wedding apparel.  I dug out my new jeans, a gingham shirt with flowers on the yoke, my white cowboy(girl) boots and we were off to Canon City.  Buying the license took about 3 minutes and then we were given a list of ministers who would do the deed.  We chose one in the assisted living facility just up the street.  We could not meet with him until 4  o'clock so we went to the doughnut shop  and had our wedding supper.  He had a plain raised doughnut and I chose a chocolate covered one.  Coffee was our beverage of choice!
We arrived promptly at the 3rd floor suite at 4 P.M.  The minister signed the license and pronounced us man and wife, then went in search of witnesses.  His wife was bedridden so we stuck our heads around the corner and she smiled at us.  That was one.  He stepped into the hall, waved someone down and we never laid eyes on number 2.  Kenneth paid the man and we came home.  At home we found a cheap bottle of wine in the center of the table.  Seems Gene knew our plans.  We did not open the wine for over six months and then only to get rid of it.  That took three or 4 tries!  But thanks any way, Gene!
Now thirty years later, I can still remember the temperature on that day!  It is going to get up to 51 today.  That is alright.  Kenny has been gone almost ten years, but I do not think his memory has faded at all.  I still hear him.  I still see him.  His ashes are still beside my bed.  While everything has changed, it has still stayed the same.

Happy 30th Anniversary

Kenneth and Louella Mercer!

 

Well now what?

Just got up and started checking eBay for ending listings.  Got those taken care of and got my second cup of coffee.  Just setting here planning my day at 5:30 AM and realized that today is the day the world ends.  Damn!  I wonder what time that is going to happen?  I want to shower, but I am not going to get naked and have the world suddenly end and there I stand in front of God and everybody dripping wet in a birthday suit that sorely needs ironed!  And say I do that real quick and make it back out.  What about breakfast?  That is the most important meal of the day, you know.  Can I be expected to go flying across the universe on an empty stomach?  Will there be signs pointing us in the right direction?
In all seriousness, some one posted a picture of a Mayan Calendar and an Oreo cookie on facebook the other day.  I thought there was an amazing resemblance except that the Oreo cookie was chocolate!  Oh, just thought of something else!  If the world has ended, wouldn't my Internet be down?  Oh, and I just had an email from Google that says if I want some one to be notified that I used their name in my blog I should put a mark before their name.  I digress but let me just try that here. +Stephen Smalley .  Now, dear cousin, let me know if that worked!
Back to this end of the world thing.  I did not bother getting ready for this one just like I never bothered the other umpteen times.  I hold firm to the Bible and the part where it says "No man shall know the day nor the hour....".  Oh, and trust me on this, there are a whole lot of other parts that I hold fast, also.  So now that the world seems secure for just a little longer, I will get back to planning my day.
I am gathering up a box full of soap that I made and I am going to take that and a bunch of lotion and body butters out to Los Pabros, the migrant center east of town.  I want the women out there to have something nice for Christmas.  I am not going to wrap it, but rather just have Sister pass it out with the food stuffs.  I was visiting with her the other day and they are sorely in need of men's clothes, so when you are cleaning and tossing any time, think of them.  I know it is easy to drop them off at the ARC or the Goodwill and those are very worthy causes, but so is Los Pabros.  If you will give me a call, I will be most happy to pick items up and deliver them out there.  The things we take for granted are luxuries at the center.  And needs are not limited to men.  There are lots of women and lots of kids of all ages. 
If you ever feel moved to do something, just leave me a comment at the end of my post and a way to get in touch with you.  Or visit my profile and I think my contact info is in that.  For now, I am off to brighten my little corner of the world while it is still here!
******************************************************************
www.shop.loumercer3.com
 

Happy Birthday, Sonny!

Today you turn 21!

 

I know you think that this is the pinnacle, but you are so wrong.  Now you can drink legally.  You are the age of majority.  21!  Off to Cripple Creek?  Have fun.  I would like to say my work here is done, but that is not the case.

I have yet to be "done" raising any of them.  You were just the last one.  Now it is up to you to go out into the world and make a mark that will tell the world that your momma did a good job.  Tell them that you hold the same values today that I instilled in you for the last 21 years.  True I was not your mother all those years, but I was always there.  Just around the corner and a phone call away.

I was there when you grew pot in your room.  There when you skipped school.  There when you made the merit roll, and when you didn't.

And now you are living out on your own, paying your own way,  with your own girlfriend, your own dogs and whatever else, but try to remember that momma is still here.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. BRET A. MERCER!!!



 

 

Off and running!

Going to be a rather fun day today.  First I am meeting my friend Jeanne at Starbucks for coffee.  Been neglecting some of my friends and that has to stop.  Then it is off to church and after that coffee with Dan in all probability.  Got to run by Office Max and pick up some labels and packing supplies.  Then home to figure out just how to pack this spinning wheel to mail through UPS.  Do not want it damaged.  Course I have yet to figure out how to get it in the car!

  Oh, and some where in that I need to stop by Lowe's and check the price on my floors.  Would be much easier if Staples had not ticked me off cause it is right by Lowe's, but they did.  Guess Deven is not going to church with me this morning.  That is alright because I long ago learned to travel on my own.

And let's see, I need to talk to the kids and see what the plan is for Christmas.  And I am going to plot my little vacation next summer.  Surely someone wants to see me!  Anyway, this is just a note to let you know that tomorrow or Tuesday I should be back to the good old days. 

See you then.
 

************************************************************************
Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's entirety. Lou Mercer
               

                                                           

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rocky Mountains

Once more life has gotten in the way.

Bet you been missing me.  I sure been missing life!  I went and got my drivers license renewed and guess what!  I do not have to wear glasses when I drive anymore.  Had that vision restriction on there since I was 22 , quit smoking 3 years ago, and now my eyes are back to normal.  I still need reading glasses, but hell I am 71 years old!  What did you think?  They told me what the cigarettes would do to my lungs, but never mentioned my eyesight.  Little added benefit there.
Had lunch with Libby in the Springs last Tuesday.  We went to the Fine Art Center at the College.  That was really great.  Don't ask me where the rest of the week went.  Some where I am sure.  Oh, I had a delivery to the garage for the yard sale.  And it was cold so extra work trying to break the ice.  And that little side trip to look at flooring took another day.  But now that was worth it.  I think I am going to go with Pergo in the Montgomery Apple.  Course this also entails painting the first level.  So now I am looking for a painter who will do this for nothing and do a good job.  We will see how that works out for me.
And then there was that nasty business in Connecticut yesterday.  I rather long for the old days when we heard the news through the grapevine and it was a month old.  Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me.  But little children?  Do you remember when that one guy killed all those Amish girls?  I thought that was about as low as one could go, but seems like every one that happens is lower and more base than the last one.  Like these guys just have to out do the one before.   It is sad that life has come to this, and I have no advice on how to stop it.  Sure we can regulate firearms, but that only affects the people who obey the law in the first place.  I have no answers.
So I will close up my geese and just do the best I can to try and control my little corner of the world and make it a better place for someone.  Going to work on my next novel a little tonight.  Always nice to escape from reality into a dream world.
Going to try to get back to Nickerson soon.  Kind of miss the good old days.

www.shop.loumercer3.com

Let me fill you in on my shenanigans then tomorrow it is back to Strong Street, Nickerson, Kansas

Icarus, the calico cat that seems to run the place here, just walked across  my modem, knocked my coffee cup on the floor and settled herself on top of the HP tower.  She is thinking about swatting that blinking light and if she does that she is going to hit the power button and I will be on hold for a while.  Let's hope that does not happen.  Just so you know I am keeping busy, I took the grand daughter and her beau to the Friday night Art Walk on Union. 
We first went to the library to see the Pueblo AIDS Memorial Quilt display.  We arrived simultaneously with the fire engine and the ambulance.  I do not know where the emergency was and no one inside seemed too alarmed.  We checked with the lady at the desk and she told us we were on our own for the art walk.  She suggested that we start over at the Cup and Cork, but since I knew what the "Cork" was and these kids are 15 or 16 years old, we skipped that part.  We were advised to just walk across the bridge and on up Union.  I opted to drive down there and leave the car in a central location and walk both ways.
Just wanted to see what that was about.  First it was cold.  We saw one group of carolers twice.  This very quickly lost all luster to the three of us.  We decided we were hungry and I wanted a greasy hamburger that would slam my aorta shut and get me out of my misery.  Where to go? 
I remembered Carl Jr's or Carl's Jr, or something like that and their advertisements that showed all kinds of stuff squirting out when the guy took a bite.  I figured some of that had to be grease, so off we went.  Bad choice.  I got a Bacon Cheeseburger, French fries, and a soda.  That was the driest thing I ever bit into.  Totally it consisted of a bun, hamburger patty, a piece of cheese, 2 pieces of tissue paper thin bacon that clung together for safety, two dried out onion rings that actually had at one time held an onion ring, and a stain on the bun that I later identified as barbeque sauce.  I squirted a couple packages of ketchup on it and did finally get it to drip.  Gross.  Even the French fries were not greasy.  The Dr. Pepper was pretty good.  Total cost for the three of us was $21 and some change.  I still have a fully functioning aorta, so if anyone knows where to get a greasy hamburger, please let me know.
Ah, I see Icarus has now gone over and settled herself in her box on top of the filing cabinet.  I see we are supposed to maybe by some miracle, get a little snow tonight.  Not thinking that is going to happen, but it is winter and it should.  I am going down and whip out a couple seed catchers a lady ordered and then I think I will work on my warp for the loom.  I will probably leave the computer asleep tomorrow since it is a busy day, but I fully intend to dredge up some memories about Nickerson, Kansas on Monday or Tuesday.  See you then.
 

************************************************************************
  This is the novel I have for sale. Do not be confused by the title. Chapter One simply means this is my first book. There may never be another, or there may be many more. I am very proud of this endeavor and guarantee you will enjoy the book in it's entirety. Just click that little BUY NOW button.     Lou Mercer

From the back cover

Chapter One...Loose Ends
Lou Mercer

Meg Parker led a simple life.  She was a widow of three years and lived on a chicken farm at the foot of the mighty Rockie Mountains.  Life was good and her little store on eBay made her extra spending money.  But snow and wildlife were not the only things lurking in the forest above her house.  Nor did it stay in the forest for long.

Marshall Purcell came home a wounded veteran from vietnam.  He still had his dreams, but they were of an incestuous past that threatened to consume him.

When Meg and Marshall met it seemed an inconsequential meeting, but it changed both their lives forever.  And change is not always a good thing.

This is adult fiction at its best without all the sex.  Well, maybe just a little bit. 

About the author.  Lou Mercer was born in Nickerson, Kansas. She came to Pueblo, Colorado in 1977 and is now a product of the majestic Rockie Mountains

Sorry, I got side tracked!

Well, right in the middle of the mess came World AIDS Day and now that is over and for some ungodly reason known to no one in the whole world, I decided that the garage has got to be emptied.  See, my dear husband passed to his heavenly reward 10 years ago and left all his tools, truck parts, peg board, wood working equipment, nails, grease and dust behind.  Now in all fairness, I did sell what ever anyone was interested in at the time, or gave it away.  That was long ago.
Now PFLAG is storing stuff in my garage for the scholarship yard sale in the spring.  Bear in mind that this garage is large enough to park a semi with a long dump trailer attached and still have room for 4 full sized cars.  Getting the picture?  So a friend of mine moved from Vineland to Pueblo West and needed temporary storage.  The a son-in-law came dragging in a great big bunch of racks.  And lord only knows who stuck that pool table in the corner!  Are you getting the picture?  Forgot to tell you that this thing also has a loft!
So they been hauling stuff in and putting it in the garage and the center is now full!  And it is creeping towards oblivion. Along the south wall are steel shelves 3 deep and about 2' x6'.  On the said shelves were broken chains. lug nuts, valuable stuff and total crappola all mixed together.  Since my back has gone south long ago, I got my friend Dan over here and pointed and he carried.  I began to find stuff that I knew was good, but I had no use for it so I called my friends, Frank and Cliff.  These guys have been my friends forever and when I need something they are always there to help.  I knew they were still out and kicking because I had lunch with them last spring.  We had all started Colorado Dirt many years ago and they are frustrated "pickers".  And here they came in their car.  We checked the garage and the next day they returned with a truck and trailer.  Yesterday the returned with a truck, trailer and a bobcat!  Today will be the third day of actual loading and I can see bare floors popping out everywhere!  This is wonderful. 
Today they are on their own because I have to take the dog to the groomer and I just happened to notice that my drivers license expired 3 months ago, so I will be setting in that little room with the hoards waiting my turn.  The dog takes about 3 hours so this should all work out well.  At least it would in a perfect world.  Then it is off to lunch with my friend Linda at SCAP.  Then home to see if I can install Microsoft Office on this computer from Hell!!  And I have satin sashes to finish sewing for the rodeo club.  And listings are running out on ebay so I need to take care of that!  And I want to get a warp measured out for a set of towels.  Wish there was two of me.
In the meantime, I am neglecting the story on the Chapter One Blog and the desk is piling up again.  Good news though!  I did get the cookie bags ready for the SCAP clients and Sherman left me a new pair of jeans and I have those marked and ready to hem.  And did I tell you I have the old computer set up down stairs and the printer is working and God is Good!