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I'm trying something new. This is one of the main reasons I wanted a laptop, so lets see if it's all I dreamed it would be. I am actually sitting outside right next to my waterfall/pond. It is dark outside, but the little solar lanterns around the pond are glowing, as is the glow-in-the-dark water lily. I can still make out the forms and faint colors from the flowers blooming nearby. The gurgling sound from the waterfall is one of the most peaceful sounds in the world. But I have to admit, there is a little trouble in Paradise. I am not all that used to the keyboard on my new MacBook; you wouldn't believe how many times I have had to back up and correct a misspelling, missed punctuation, fingers on the wrong set of keys or CAPLOCKS on. I mean I could have written TWICE as much by now, if I actually had twice as much to say. I am not entirely comfortable; in order to sit near the waterfall, my chair is on somewhat of a slope. The arms on the chair somewhat impede my typing (as if I needed further excuses) and I am a little tipsy (from the unstable chair, you understand). But the main thing that stops me from camping out here all night, at peace with myself and the world, communing with nature is, ironically, nature itself. I am, of course, talking about gnats, who are attracted by the lit-up screen and mosquitoes who are presumably attracted by my delicious blood, despite the tons of repellent I have liberally applied to all exposed areas of my body. I sometimes wish they would just quietly land and have their way, but it seems a rule that they must first whine crazily around my ears and face, causing me to spastically wave and slap. The city sprayed for these pests last week, but I have noticed no immediate results.
Now, in Ruby Valley, weekday home of Ultradad, there don't seem to be any mosquitoes. Just last weekend I spent a little time there, which I hadn't done for several months. 'The valley is so green, it hurts your eyes,” UDad informed me. This was a risk I was willing to take. We arrived Saturday afternoon, having spent part of the weekend catching up on chores in Carlin. The columbines were in bloom, and the Virginia Creeper was lovely. I had missed the lilacs. UDad parted the bedroom 'curtain' (actually a nailed up blanket) so I could see the Robin nest right outside the window. Four scraggly little birds with wide open yellow mouths blinked back at us. Murphy and Rowdy excitedly ran around the yard, but seemed particularly interested in what was underneath the shed. Before the weekend was out, each had killed a baby jackrabbit, no larger than a chipmunk. Who says toy poodles aren't hunters?
Okay, I am back in the house, not because of mosquitoes, but because of insistent poodles. “Can I sit on your lap? Just put that box thing on the ground.” ” You know, it's kind of dark out here. And getting cold. And my feet are wet. Why can't I sit on your lap?” “Well, okay then, don't mind us. We are just going to scratch your leg and look pitiful. Take your time.”
We took a drive to see just how far away the fish hatchery was. The drive of 20 minutes or so we expected turned into 45 minutes. But now at least we know where it is. UDad met someone who worked there a while back, and he offered him a tour; I definitely want to take him up on that one day.
On Saturday, UDad seemed to be in a lounging and relaxing mood, so I took the 'boys' for a little walk. “How long are you going to be gone?” he wanted to know. “Oh, I don't know,” I told him, “Maybe half an hour; probably not that long.” I'm not sure how long I was gone, but I know I went further than I meant to. And then, of course, you have to walk back. When I was about a mile from the house, I saw a familiar red pickup coming towards me. “Half hour my foot!” grumbled UltraDad as he stopped to pick up us. “We need to get going if we are going to take that drive to my old hunting grounds.” “I thought you said you wanted to rest up today.” I reminded him. “I changed my mind,” he said simply.
I packed us up a lunch and we got going. The wild flowers in the mountains were beautiful, although I guess I missed their peak. There were hues of purple, yellow, red Indian paintbrush and white thistle blooms. The poodles and I had several outstanding naps as we went along. After the long, bumpy ride, we were glad to get out and explore a little. We saw a bunch of Black Angus cattle belonging to the Lear Ranch (UDad's sister Kathy et al), and spotted an elk up on the hill, but he bounded away before I could get his picture. UDad told me that often, when 'glassing' they spotted bands of wild horses. “Glassing” or looking for game through binoculars was only one of the new terms I learned this day. “Look at the stud pile,” UDad said, pointing to a bunch of manure in the road. In response to my puzzled look, he explained that wild stallions will poop in a large pile to lay claim to their territory. “Now I'll show you the Lear mat,” he next said. I was beginning to feel like I was in a different country where I didn't understand the language.
The 'mat' was a system of rain-water collection to water wild stock in dry times. A large, very tough black mat was spread over the ground, weighted down with rocks. When the rain water collected here, it drained away into filtered pipes downhill into reservoirs. Only one seemed to have water in it currently, and I was plain to see from the muddy prints that it was being used. We enjoyed our picnic and explored a little. A little further along, we stopped to collect flat, shale-like rocks to bring home for decorative purposes. We got some great ones. The poodles had been so good, only wandering a short distance away from us, but suddenly they scented something that excited them and theyk were off. We yelled to no effect as they raced along, as if on a trail, getting further and further away. I was beginning to worry they would end up as coyote bait when they finally came panting back. UDad unceremoniously dumped them into the cab of the pickup, but Rowdy appeared at my side a few minutes later, having jumped out of the partially opened window. He is a bad one, that Rowdy. UDad decided to take a different 'road' back home, and as soon as the pickup began lurching along, I drifted off into another little nap. Arriving back at the house, I did a little cleaning and packed up to return home. All in all, a very nice weekend.
Throughout the weekend, I was on the phone with my Real Estate agent. We had an offer on our Idaho house and after a little dickering, decided to take it. It will be nice to have this done, but I can't help but feel a little nostalgic about the place where I lived for more than 30 years and where I raised all my children. And now the fun begins of cleaning out our remaining possessions, especially my piano.
I think I'm getting a little better on this keyboard, and, of course, as soon as I said that, I immediately had to correct 4 typing errors and a CAPLOCK. But who knows, maybe this will be what it takes to get me posting more often. You know, whenever the muse strikes me. No more having to sit comfortably in the computer chair in the well lit computer room typing on the familiar keyboard with handy mouse nearby. Now I can sit outside if I want to, or as now, on the couch with poodles sleeping nearby. Or I could be in bed; the possibilities are endless, virtually without end. So why cant' I figure out a clever way to end this post?
Newly Nearly Mobile,
UltraMom

PS I do think I am going to love my new MacBook.

Columbines at UltraDad's house

Baby Robins in Lilac Bush

Indian Paintbrush

Other Wildflowers

The Lear Mat

UDad after a leisurely lunch

UltraMom & Rowdy

What a weekend. Full of fun, excitement, family. Also, full of surprises, at least for a few of us. It all began, at least for me, several weeks ago with a phone call from Jim. Could we, he wanted to know, come to Howe for the weekend of May 31st? He hoped Jessica’s family would be able to make it and at long last the two families could meet. It would be a surprise for Jessica, so don’t tell her, okay? He thought we would have BBQ Beer-can chicken at either Uncle Bill’s or Uncle Chuck’s, and everyone was making stuff. What was this? Jim as a social events planner was entirely out of character. But I knew he was kind of fond of Jessica, and it did seem like a nice plan for the two families to get together. Of course we would be there. An idea started niggling at the back of my brain. Was this an event to announce an engagement? I started to ask, but decided not to. Knowing my son, even if this was the plan, he wouldn’t tell me.
Jim called me again several days before the ‘weekend du jour” (yes, I KNOW that means ‘the weekend of the day’. It’s kind of a little joke, okay?) to tell me all was set and that Heather would be joining us accompanied by her famous taco dip. “You can bring a dessert,” he informed me. “Something chocolate. Jessica’ family is crazy about chocolate.” My famous cream puffs were suggested, but this was problematic for a couple of reasons, chief of which was lack of time. Jessica’s family would be bringing several casseroles, and when we found out Chenoa, Mike and Rowan (Chenoa is Pat’s daughter, so our niece) would be able to make it out from Idaho Falls that day, Jim nixed my idea of a veggie tray and asked for another casserole type dish. “I’m not that big on veggies,” he informed me. Jim as a social planner indeed!
I set off bright and early Friday morning, only 45 minutes later than I had planned, and picked up UltraDad in Wells, where he parked his pickup. We were in high spirits as we wended our way to Howe, stopping in Twin Falls long enough for a delightful lunch at Chilli’s , and a bit of shopping in Shopko. I called Patty to see if anything more was needed, and found out she had dessert covered with a double chocolate cake and two fruit pies. I bought beverages and chips, and a lawn game called “Lasso Golf” that caught my eye on the way into the store.
We arrived at Bill and Patty’s, where we would be staying, about 5 pm. Jim was already there, and Jessica would be arriving soon. She is working for an accounting firm in Twin Falls for the summer, and couldn’t leave until after work. Patty was recovering from a recent surgery, but had put together a wonderful dinner of roasted ham, cheesy broccoli and salads. We assembled my lasso golf game, which turned out to be a lot of fun, in spite of noone being able to beat Jim at it. Jessica got a little chilly, but had forgotten her sweatshirt, so I loaned her my blue jacket, which she is wearing in nearly all the photos, and which looks much better on her than it does on me. Later, Jim gave his Dad an early birthday present: he had remounted some antlers from a deer UltraDad had shot years ago and had a plaque made detailing where and when the deer had been taken. Beautiful.

Jim with Bill and Patty’s dog, ‘Toby’. Jim says Jessica is jealous of the close relationship he and Toby share

UltraDad and Bill compare antlers

Bill and Patty’s old dog, “Buddy” is nearly 20 years old. He is a great dog, but lately is having quite a few ‘old age’ problems

The next day, Saturday, Jim and Jessica went for a hike in the mountains. Meanwhile, guests were arriving and uncles were BBQing chickens. Mike and Chenoa arrived with show-stealing, photo-monopolizing 5-month old Rowan and dog Chester, the Westie. Rowan was a little grouchy at first, but even allowed me to hold her before the day was over. It’s a good thing Heather brought her Taco Dip; I think it may have kept us all from starving as we waited for the hikers and dinner, especially the hungry Kasper clan who arrived around 2 pm, bearing casseroles and chips. Tom, the dad, was very personable and friendly. Jessica greatly resembles her father. Mom, Joann was also very nice and I enjoyed chatting with her. She homeschools(ed) all 6 of her kids, an amazing feat. Eric, the oldest is 27, I believe. He and brother Peter got Dairy Science degrees, then moved back home to help with running the family dairy farm in Melba, Idaho. Sister Janelle is graduating this year with a degree in Accounting, sister Josina is the equivalent of a high school junior, and sister Johanna is only 9. A new addition to the family is Elsa, a German Shepherd puppy who didn’t come along.

Mike, Chenoa and little Miss Rowan

Rowan liked cousin Heather

Rowan seems happy with Uncle UltraDad

Rowan was fine with Aunt UltraMom as long as she couldn’t see who was holding her!

Just ‘chillin’ waiting for those kids to come back.

Johanna was pretty good at ‘lasso golf’

Tom and Joann Kasper

About 3 pm, Jim and Jessica showed up. She was bubbling with excitement and sporting a large diamond ring on the 4th finger of her left hand. It wouldn’t quite go over her knuckle, but she was wearing it all the same. Jim was grinning from ear to ear. It seemed my suspicions were correct! But as I soon learned, nearly everyone already knew this was happening, except for Heather, me and, of course, Jessica, who was astounded to see her family’s vehicle in the drive. I hugged Jessica and asked for details. “Jim took me to the place where he first told me he loved me,’ she told me. “He told me the first time he saw me he knew I was ‘it.” Jim broke in, “She said ‘yes’ before I even asked the question. So I told her I got down on my knee to take my shoe off, and the question I was going to ask was ‘Will you smell my sock?’” But the ‘rock’ on her finger showed me she had, indeed, answered the right question!

Jim and Jessica after ‘announcing’

How romantic! Jim is pretending to drop Jessica in the ditch.

with little sister Johanna

Me and two of my girls

Jim,Jessica, UltraMom, UltraDad

UltraMom feels short

You can see me running to get into the picture. It seems the timer was set for ‘2 seconds’. Jim is still trying to get cameras focused, and noone else appears ready either…

The weather was iffy, but we ended up eating outside, though it was a little windy. At least the rain held off til after dinner. The food was good and plentiful, and everyone felt much more mellow with full stomachs. Jessica’s parents had gifts for the newly committed couple: a large NIV Study Bible and an Elizabeth Elliot book titled “Passion and Purity.”
Before we disbanded, we trooped out to the large ‘picture-taking’ rock in Bill and Patty’s front yard for some group photos. I tried to put my camera on a timer, but I think instead of getting ‘2 shots’, as I thought I was doing, I got my picture taken in ‘2 seconds’. Heather has promised me copies of hers, which I think turned out a little better than mine.
So, it was quite a weekend, and I am quite excited about gaining a daughter, especially one as terrific as Jessica. I may even let her keep my blue jacket, for a while anyway.

UltraMom

It’s good to be back, and thanks to those of you who commented. I find I am greatly influenced by the praise of others, which I should be getting over by this time of my life. And so it is you find me posting again, the second day in a row. This will be quite a different sort of story; a tale of horror and strange invisible forces.
It all started Friday morning when I woke up, sometime in the vicinity of before 11 AM. Still ostensibly recovering from a bout of flu as well as a bout of getting-up-early-for school, I was sleeping in with only a tinge of guilt. I yawned and reached across my back to scratch an irritating itch. I got up and headed for the bathroom, idly scratching a few more places. By now my mind was becoming aware that, despite all the helpful scratching, the itching was becoming decidedly worse. A look in the mirror showed raised, red welts in blotchy patches across my torso. What was this? Had someone sabotaged my bed with poison ivy? Was I becoming allergic to my poodles? Did I have (shudder) bed bugs? I showered and found some hydrocortisone cream to smear across the welts. My mouth felt kind of funny too….my lower lip was swelling and feeling a little numb. I pulled all the sheets and blankets off my bed and dumped them in the washer with a goodly dose of detergent.
I kind of ignored everything after that and headed for work. The business of the day put the morning’s troubles out of my mind for the most part, though the fat lower lip was kind of hard to forget.
UltraDad came home that night, and the next morning I thought I had a few new itchy red welts, though he didn’t seem to have been bothered. We discussed setting off bug bombs. That was as far as it got that day, and we went off to town with Pat, to dine out and enjoy the new Indiana Jones movie. It was, as were the first ones, filled with swashbuckling, supernatural events and one disaster after another. As we exited the theater, UltraDad voiced his opinion that the movie was not realistic. “You don’t think so?” I asked sarcastically. “No,” he said. “Harrison Ford has got to be in his 60’s. A guy that old couldn’t really do all that stuff.” Hmmm.
That night UltraDad slept in the back bedroom. I think he might have had premonitions of the evening’s horrors to come. I went to bed fairly early and other than a few idle scratches, gave no thought to the monsters that might be lurking under, around, and in my bed. How could I have slept through it all, you may wonder, as these denizens of the night roamed across my body, biting at will? I have asked myself the same question, time and time again, but the fact remains. I DID sleep through it and the next morning found my worst fears confirmed. The red welty patches were tripled and this time it was my UPPER lip that had been bitten. It was swollen and tight, protruding hideously. It was clear I would NOT be going to church that morning.
This time the bug bombs were set. We put the cat outside, gathered up the poodles and headed to Pat’s house to while away several hours until it was safe, as per bug bomb instructions, to return. “Can you believe this?” UltraDad asked Pat, his words clearly showing his concern, “She looks like she is from the Planet of the Apes.”
“No she doesn’t,” Pat said, examining me critically. “She looks more like she is from the planet of the Parrots.” So much for sympathy.
Pat urged some Benadryl on me and I reluctantly accepted. I seemed to remember not responding well to Benadryl in the past. Seemed like it made me feel kind of weird and jumpy. We settled down to watch one of the old Indiana Jones movies Pat had purchased the day before. This time around the Benadryl affected my in quite a different way. I conked out. At one point, I stumbled back to Pat’s guest bed, and when I woke up, the movie was long over and UltraDad had gone back home to de-bug-bomb the house. And the lip seemed not quite so misshapen.
The invisible forces have not been back, though they haunt me in my dreams. My lips were bad enough, but what if they had bitten my nose, an appendage not tiny to begin with? Maybe some day the memories will fade and I will once again have a peaceful night’s slumber. I pray it comes soon.

UltraMom

Wednesday, May 14
School is out for the year, and I’m feeling a mixture of relief and wistfulness. I suppose I should be ‘mature’ (nice way to say ‘getting old.’) and wise, and talk about how much I learned about myself, but I don’t really think that is the case, except the ‘mature’ part, of course.
The last day for all classes was Wednesday. I brought my special oatmeal-peanut butter-chocolate chip-raisin cookies to each class, and had enough left over to wreak minor havoc on my latest WW weigh in. In C N A, we finished up our skills testing. Reminiscent of a cheesy game show, we turned over cards laid out on a table top, which determined which three actual skills each of us had to demonstrate. Actually, I had finished mine last week, having drawn ‘feeding a patient’, ‘making an occupied bed’, and ‘perineal care.” Classmate Erica volunteered to be my patient for the first 2 skills; ‘Sarah Johnson’, the dummy in bed #1 would do for the third.
Contrary to Johnny’s assertion, making an occupied bed involves no witchcraft, just finely honed skill and a lot of making the patient roll over from side to side of the bed. When I had finished, Erica gave me a gentle reminder that I had forgotten to lower her bed. “I hope I don’t fall out of bed. It’s going to really hurt from way up here.” Thanks, kiddo.
I dumped the dirty linens, rewashed my hands and returned with instant pudding and a glass of water. “Hi Erica, I’m Kathy. I’ll be your C N A today, and I’m going to feed you your snack,” I rattled off, practicing my ‘7 ins’ while pretending to draw the privacy curtain. I tied on the ‘clothing protector’ (Link would call it a ‘bib’) and got to work. “Mmm,” said my patient, “this is good. Did you make it yourself? I would like to get your recipe.” “I did,” I told her “but I’m afraid the recipe is a family secret.” I didn’t mean to lie, but I did so want to impress.
The unfortunate Sarah Johnson in Bed #1 was missing both arms, had a bed sore or two and was badly in need of a good hair combing. I said missing both arms, but one arm actually lay next to her in the bed. She did, however, have a thoroughly clean and dry perineum by the time I was finished with her.
On this Wednesday, the last day of class, I was the patient volunteer for Donna. Donna already works in this field and made my occupied bed in about half the time it had taken me. She then took my right arm and hand through a set of range of motion exercises; then headed over for Sarah Johnson. Out of 20 or so skills, Donna had drawn two out of three skills the same as the ones I tested on. I must admit, she was a tad more competent.
After Donna’s testing, we received our pins and certificates. Now all that was left was to schedule our state board testing, and cough up another $100 or so.
My last Tai Chi class was short; our instructor had to leave early to pick up his wife from the airport. I have the 9 forms routine down pretty well, but the Liang Gong and warm up exercises are pretty hit and miss. But I have enjoyed this class.
Usually I would run home in between classes to let my dogs out, but Pat was taking care of that for me this day. She took the day off work for a Dr. appointment and we met in town for lunch at Taco Bell. UltraDad does not enjoy Mexican food, so I try to enjoy it when not with him. And I really do like Taco Bell’s vegetarian burrito loaded with beans, rice, cheese and sour cream!
I spent the several hours before “Drugs” class sitting in my car going over the terms I would be defining for my final. We had also done this activity the first day of class, and our answers this time would, ostensibly, show improved understanding. ‘Addiction, co-dependency, co-addiction, 12 step programs, uppers, downers, alcohol dependency, alcohol addiction, recovery, relapse’ and so on. The teacher made a point of saying we need only write a few lines defining and giving an example of each term, but I seem to be incapable of that. I was the last one to leave, and had covered 3-4 hand written pages.
Directly after handing in my final, I drove over to the VFW hall to lead a Weight Watcher meeting, rounding out a very busy day.
In some ways, I’m looking forward to a slightly slower pace for summer, if the weather ever cooperates enough to head in that direction. There is gardening to do and, hopefully, some trips to take. Where I’m headed from here remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain. I will be back!

UltraMom