Farewells and Dads

Saturday evening, we said goodbye to our favorite Sister, Sr. Beverly Martin. She had been with us in the Clifton and Clyde parishes for several years, but as with most good things, it had to end. Bishop Vincke decided to move her to another parish. 

It has crossed my mind that the reason we got Sr. Bev in the first place was possibly the deteriorating health of Fr. Steven Heina, our former priest. He needed help, so Sr. Bev stepped in to help him. Then they moved Fr. Steve, and we got Fr. Andrew. We loved Fr. Steve, and we adore Fr. Andrew. He's young, with boundless energy, ideas, and he's computer savvy; even has his own vlog online.  So perhaps we didn't need Sr. Bev. Or at least that's what the Bishop believes.

Originally, Sr. Bev had a destination, although we still don't know where that was. But then there was some sort of plan change, and so now Sr. Bev is in a holding pattern at the Motherhouse in Concordia. Like an airplane circling an airport during a storm. She's in limbo, just doing whatever they need her to do. I believe she has accepted this much easier than her parishioners.

Last night, the combined parishes put on a farewell party for her, a potluck supper, and visiting with her with lots of hugs and many teary smiles. Sr. Bev became emotional, I believe it was difficult for her to leave us too. She was such a good fit for our communities. And I do believe that we still need her. 

Fr. Andrew is young, energetic, and a strong leader. He is trying to bring our parishes back to the Catholic Church of long ago with the same Eucharistic prayers (the long version, not the shortened ones that many priests use today), and some customs that we have not used in many decades. He is an excellent educator in our faith, and I wished I could continue taking lessons with him for a long time more. Even Dennis said he had learned more about his faith than he had in over 75 years. He started out as my ride to my OCIA classes and ended up asking many questions and also wishing for more.

I think Fr. Andrew is working toward educating us all in the catechism of the Church by including sections of the catechism in the bulletin. I like that. I was not raised Catholic. I was a confirmed Lutheran until I met him and when we became seriously involved and headed toward marriage, we decided that I would convert to Catholicism.

The class I took to learn and join the Church was not an optimal class. The priest was teetering on the brink of leaving the priest-hood, and seemed to want to talk about social gatherings more than the lessons we were supposed to be learning. I know we are not supposed to verbally attack our priests but pray for them. when they fail, and I do pray for them, but the truth is that I was ill-prepared for joining the Church.

Today we celebrated Father's Day with family and friends. It was great attending Mass with our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It was mostly Becky and Rusty's family, although we did get an unexpected but very welcome visit from our oldest son Josh. I wish we could have seen or heard from others in our family. 

Hopefully, we'll see more family on July 3, when we meet at Josh's house for his annual patriotic holiday and gumbo feed.

I do know I'm totally exhausted and headed for bed soon. It's been a crazy long weekend. But I've loved every moment.

A Mundane but productive day

There were many things that I wanted to do today. I didn't get to do any of them.

I wanted to paint, practice with my soft pastels, or watercolors. I never touched a paintbrush.

I wanted to do some editing on my book. I did start to do this but was interrupted so many times in a five-minute span that I gave up on that too. 

I wanted to sort out some things for the thrift shop to reduce the clutter in our home. I moved some things around, but didn't gain much ground there either.

However, Dennis promised to work on my dishwasher today, and we did get that done. He struggled, but he managed to get bigger wheels underneath my portable dishwasher, making it much easier to maneuver around in my tiny, crowded kitchen.  I am excited to get that done. We thought about changing out the hoses on it too, but there was a problem with the ends, so that part of the project was tabled for today.

I did get the bedding on our bed laundered and changed out. I think the washer ate one of my pillowcases. Either that or it's still in the dryer. I'll have to check in a bit. Changing the bed shouldn't be difficult, but the fitted sheet is a hassle wrestling those danged corners. And I'd almost bet the upper corner on my side of the bed will come flipping up toward the center of the bed as soon as I lie down on it. It does every time

Maizie has been excited today. She got a bath today. I've been talking about doing that, but today when she jumped up on my lap with a blob of poop stuck in her hair, that made the decision easy. She does ok with it, until it comes time to spray her head. Getting that eye gunk out of her fur around her face is a challenge. She doesn't like me doing anything other than petting her on her head and face. I'll have to use a baby wipe or damp washcloth to gradually work that gunk out of her facial fur.

She enjoyed watching while Dennis was sitting on the floor wrestling with the dishwasher. He was in a good humor, so she got in quite a few licks and sniffs. Right now, she's laying on my left arm, making it a little difficult to type. I'm working from my recliner. It's my most comfortable chair, and quite frankly, the only one that works to type in. I have two other chairs in my front room that I can sit in, but my table is too high and it's not adjustable. Such struggles!

It's reading time in about 4 minutes, so I'll shut this down and get my book out. I'm currently reading a biography: Living With No Excuses by Noah Galloway. An American soldier disabled due to battle wounds, he shares the intensely emotional struggles of the fight to heal from his wounds. It's been a great story so far.

I'll let  you all know how it ends. :)

First Draft Complete!

Finally! My first draft of Hero in Cowboy Boots is complete! I've been working toward this goal for years. Now I'm jumping into the edits and rewriting phase. Not nearly as much fun or rewarding as the initial writings, but just as important. And this phase can be shared with anyone who has a working knowledge of spelling, grammar, syntax, and just seeing the same vision as I do. Namely, my beta readers.

I will be going through my manuscript looking for errors in the above elements: spelling, grammar, syntax, and conciseness. So if I send you a copy of my story to read, and you find any glaring errors, please, please send me an alert. I will be ever so grateful. And you'll get to read my story for free!

I'm rather proud of my story. I know there are areas where it needs work, more descriptive work in some areas, POV jumps, and changing passive verbs to active ones. And probably others that I haven't caught yet.

Why didn't I just change those things while I was writing? That is simple. I've tried that method before, and it bogged me down so much that I forgot what the main character was trying to do, and eventually just gave up. I've had that happen in at least five different stories. I hope to go back to each one and complete it, but right now, I just want to get this one published and in its best form.

I know everyone is very busy, and I respect that. But if you can just review one chapter for me, that will be a great help. So, if you read this post, and have a few minutes to spare, please contact me by email at dmbarnes@twinvalley.net, and I'll send you my first chapter. If you wish to read more, let me know. I will be so grateful.

Thank you.

Dixie

Writing on...

This book is coming along nicely. I had to stop and rearrange a couple of chapters that weren't working chronologically, but once I got that figured out, I've gotten a couple of chapters done just today alone. I'm getting close to finishing that first draft, and once I get that done, it all should go much quicker. I hope.

Dennis isn't feeling well today. Every since he had his radiation treatments, he's been fighting hormonal symptoms. Like hot flashes. I remember when I had them. I took some herbal therapies and those helped me a lot. However, Dennis has a weird body that doesn't respond to meds or herbs or anything. Taking a narcotic is like taking an M&M for pain. It just doesn't work for him. Sleeping meds don't work, and herbals don't work for his "hot flashes." 

He tells everyone I don't have any sympathy for him. If I remember right, he didn't have much sympathy for me, either. But it's not that I don't have sympathy for him. I just don't broadcast it to everyone I know. 

He's doing better than he did last year. Then he'd tell everyone about his intimate health issues, which was quite embarrassing to me. And he'd tell the same stories every week. A little Alzheimer's maybe? 

The kids are starting to see that in him, too. He tells the same fishing stories to them and they are starting to finish his sentences for him. I don't do that. I just let him drone on, mumbling, and halfway tune him out. Of course, with my hearing deficit, a lot of it I really don't hear.

I'm not wanting to complain, I just sometimes need to hear some new stories. After 55 years together, it's rare when I hear anything new.

Back to my writing. I've based a couple of my characters off of people I know well. Not exactly everything, but just little anecdotes will show up in some dialogue somewhere, or certain qualities, good or bad will sneak into my characters' personalities.

Writing gives me a chance to live in an alternate world, where I have control over what happens to my favorite characters and I can kill off the bad when they tick me off. What an awesome power!

I'm starting chapter 25 tomorrow afternoon (or Monday) and the next few chapters will build to the climax.  I can't wait!

For tonight, I'm going to relax with my favorite game, Wizard101.

Have a happy weekend.

Deleting Detritus!

It's Maizie and me again today. Dennis left about 8 a.m. and it's now a little after 2 p.m. He had a dentist appointment with a VA approved dentist in Junction City today.  Yesterday he had his teeth cleaned by another dentist. Why they couldn't have combined the two appointments is beyond my understanding, but it does give me a few hours of tv remote time. 👍

I've been working on my book this week. Not getting a lot of new writing done, but doing a little spell checking and fixing some inconsistencies. I have a couple of chapters that for some reason are not chronological, and that has been a challenge to get it straightened out. I may have to do some rewriting there before I post it for critiques.

I'd like to get some artwork done, but it's such a hassle to change out my little table from writing to art supplies. I need my office back. Organized I'm not. I have a box of blank white greeting cards that I'd like to make using my own artwork, but I'm just not motivated or inspired to get it done. 

It looks like it's been a rainy day today. I had no idea until I went out to the back porch to move something, and saw this huge puddle in the neighbor's lot. We could use the rain, so definitely not complaining.

I've been going through old mail and odds and ends in our living room. Throwing away old ads, bills, and sorting out things I want to keep takes a lot of time. But I'm starting to see a little difference in the room. Not much yet, but at least I can get through from the front door to the kitchen without knocking something to the floor. ;P

Ok. On to my next project. Cleaning off the computer desk that has been shanghaied for use as a collection spot for Dennis and his "junk" and things like salt and pepper shakers, scissors, some over the counter meds, tape, air fresheners...the lists goes on and on.

This post is an embarrassing one. How did I let this get this bad? Uh oh. He's home from the dentist. I'll be back! I hope.

Checking In

It's been a while since I've posted. 

Between graduations and parties for that, doctor's appointments, sorting  seasonal clothing and feeling exhausted and frustrations with keeping everyone happy, I'm just about washed out.

The dog has decided that all her belongings (toys, blankets, old slippers, socks and whatever else she has siphoned off from Dennis and me) and then she insists on keeping it on the floor in the lane of traffic. If one of us doesn't break a leg tripping on all of it, it will be a miracle.

There are severe storms predicted for tonight. I hope the electricity stays on at least. Last night we were without power for most of the night. I got up once in the night and could not see my hand in front of my face. It was like I had suddenly gone completely blind. It was rather scary. 

Dennis and I have spent a lot of time together this past weekend.  I'll be alone with Maizie most of tomorrow. Dennis has an appointment in Topeka tomorrow afternoon. Dental appointments! Uggh! I'd rather have major surgery!

HICB ch.11 wc1678

HICB ch.11 wc1678

Jayda kept up a constant stream of chatter as she was transferred from the elevator to the front door of the hospital. Mark had found an aide willing to help carry her belongings as he transferred from the wheelchair to the pickup seat. She argued with the staff that she could get up into the pickup seat by herself, even though she almost collapsed to the concrete driveway when she tried to stand.

“Ooops! I guess I’m not quite as strong yet as I thought. Thank the Lord I wasn’t holding little Mark Lee at the time.”

One of the nurses standing behind her replied, “That’s why we have those rules, Ma’am. Too many falls. Too many lawsuits.”

“I reckon that’s right. I’ll behave from now on.”

As the nurse opened the door to the backseat of the pickup, Jayda said, “Wait! I want to hold him in my lap.”

“No, Ma’am, all babies and small children ride in the back seat, facing the rear of the truck That’s an absolute rule. A law, even. Little Mark Lee rides in the back in his new car seat. Mom, you ride in the front seat next to Dad.”

Jayda blushed, and climbed up into the cab’s front seat, with the assistance of one of the nurses. Mark was busy loading her belongings into the pickup. He pretended not to hear what was being said, but a slight smile appeared on his face.

When everyone and everything was in the pickup and the doors were closed, Mark turned to Jayda and asked, “Do you need anything else from town while we’re here?  Any formula, diapers, or anything else?”

“No, the hospital sent a gift package with enough of all the supplies we should need for about a week. That was so generous of them! Everyone has been so kind to me, but especially you, Mark. How can I ever repay you? You even paid my bill, which must have been in the thousands! I don’t even know how much it was! Thank you so much, Mark. I promise I’ll repay you someday, as soon as I can.” Jayda put her head in her hands and sobbed. “I just feel so useless.”

Mark put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.  “Jayda, Sweetheart---I know how difficult this must all be for you. But sometimes God answers our prayers with the people around us. You were praying for someone to save you, weren’t you? And I’ll bet you were worrying about how you’d feed and diaper Mark Lee. Right? Ok, well, maybe it’s not me and the staff at the hospital that deserve the most thanks. Maybe it’s God you should be thanking. It’s great to have your thanks, here and now, and the staff enjoyed having you with them for that short time, too. Didn’t they give you a warm good-bye when you left? Well, they get paid to take care of you, and I think they really enjoyed having you, because you are so grateful. We can buy a box of chocolates or a fruit basket and have it delivered next week. Or maybe you can deliver it yourself when you are stronger. Ok?”

Jayda smiled and nodded. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“All right then, let’s get little man home. I’ll bet he’d like to have a long nap, away from all the hustle and bustle of this hospital. We can pick out a nice card, and I’ll get a fruit basket made up for the hospital staff and next week we’ll deliver it.”

“Let’s go home, Mark,” she answered, her tears full of unshed tears.

“We’re outa here, Babe.”

Mark revved the engine and put the pickup in gear.

The nurses watching from the hospital door grinned at each other and hugged each other.

One nurse said to the other, “You know, it’s days like this that make me glad I’m a nurse. That was so romantic. She’s one lucky lady.”

“She certainly is. Lucky to be alive after being in that ditch in a tornado, for Pete’s sake! Lucky her baby was born so perfect without any prenatal care, and lucky she has that handsome young man to take care of her. I heard a rumor that he’s wanting to marry her. Isn’t that sweet? She says he’s not even the father. How rare is that? A handsome stranger rescues her from the jaws of death and then wants to marry her. That there is fairytale stuff!”

 

As they drove by the spot where Jayda’s car left ruts in the ditch, she shuddered and quickly looked away. She turned to Mark and asked, “You said there wasn’t any damage to my car, then? How can that be, when it was buried so deeply in that mud?

“I didn’t see any damage, but then it was covered in mud and debris. I’ll check again, when I wash all that mud off.  It ran fine, and I drove it to your house without any issues. You’ve kept it running pretty well?”

“I have them check the oil and other fluids at least once a month, and I really don’t drive it all that often. Just to town to get groceries and sometimes to mail a package for my business.”

“Oh, really? You have a business? What kind of business?”

Jayda laughed. “It’s really more of a hobby. I don’t make much from it. I sell costume jewelry online. It sells for only five dollars per piece, but it’s really pretty and people eat it up.”

“Cool. I’ll have to see it sometime. Do you have any men’s jewelry? I’m not a pretty boy, but I’ve seen some men wearing like a gold chain around their neck, or a bracelet made of braided cord. Do you have that kind of thing?”

Jayda smiled. “I sure do. And it does look very nice on men. I know some men feel threatened by things like that. I think that comes from their own insecurity. But I do sell quite a bit of men’s jewelry. When I get settled, I want to cook up a special supper for you to thank you for everything. You can look at the pieces I do have, and I can text you the link to my website, where you can look at more. It’s fun to shop for just that right piece.” Jayda’s face became quite animated when she talked about her business. She’s gorgeous, even without makeup.

As they pulled into her driveway, Jayda looked around anxiously.

“What’s wrong? Is there something not the way you left it?”

“No, I guess not. For a moment, I thought it looked like someone had been here. Tracks in the gravel. But then I remembered you had been here while I was in the hospital. So, everything’s cool.” She gave a tremulous smile, then busied herself gathering up her bags and purse.

“I don’t think Brad has been here lately, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ve checked on your house every day and kept it locked up tight. Let’s get you settled in and I’ll check around the buildings again to make sure. Ok? Jayda?” he paused.  “Everything is going to be ok. Relax. Enjoy your son. I’m just a hop and a skip down the road, and if I get a call from you that you are in trouble, I can be here in about five minutes. Ok?” He touched her arm, then caressed her face.

“I’m here for you, Jayda. Let’s get this little man into his own bed so he can relax. Are you hungry or thirsty? I can fix something for you to eat. I know there are cold soft drinks in the fridge, ‘cause I put them there to cool. You like Dr. Pepper, don’t you? I stocked your fridge with cold drinks, fruit drinks, and a six pack of beer. There’s also fixings for salads, some meats, and vegetables. I saw some chips and dips in the refrigerator too.”

“Wow, Mark. You haven’t left anything for me to do; have you also cleaned and straightened my house? Made my bed, done my laundry?” Jayda joked.

Mark blushed and dropped his head.

“Well, uhhh---actually---yesss, I did do all of that too.”

Jayda stared at him, her mouth open in shock. Her eyes were like saucers. Saucers that were threatening to overflow with tears.

“Mark, what happened to our backing up and slowing down. I didn’t mean for you to take over all of my life!” Then realizing she had been rude, she covered her mouth with her hand and stared at him with a horrified expression.

“Oh Mark, I’m so sorry! That was incredibly rude of me! Please forgive me!” The tears that had been close to falling before ran unheeded down her face.

Mark had looked guiltily at her, then his expression turned to sorrow. He knew he was supposed to back off, but he just couldn’t. He was having too much fun playing the hero, and he just cared too much for her and her son to back away. But if she really didn’t want him---he opened his door and hurriedly came around to her side of the truck. Opening the door, he helped her down and gently made sure she could stand without falling, then retrieved the baby carrier and assisted both of them to the house. He set the carrier down on the porch stoop while he fished out the house keys and opened the door.

He assisted them inside and settled them down on the sofa, then retrieved her belongings and all the baby’s and put them on the kitchen counter.

“Ummm, I’d better get back to my place. It’s hot and the cattle will need water. I’ll check on you later.” He gave her one last look, turned, and left. A moment later, she heard his pickup start and then heard him leaving quickly down the road. He was gone, and he hadn’t even said he forgave her.