The Rest of the Story

Well, the rest of the story of the new mattress and painting...

I slept on the new mattress for a few nights and it wasn't great. I ended up getting a mattress topper and going to see Dr. Jerry for my back. The mattress is okay now, but I could probably have just gotten a topper and had Jerry work on my back.

The painting - Dumb, Dumb, Dumb I know better. I had about a fifth of a gallon of paint left and the quart I had bought. So I decided I would paint as much of the closet as I could. It probably needed it and it wouldn't hurt to do it. So, I opened the gallon and started on the biggest wall. There wasn't quite enough paint to finish it. I opened the quart - not quite the same color. I know from experience that this happens and that you should pour the two together and mix them. Well, it's a closet and nobody will see it much and there will be things in there. So I went ahead and finished the wall just a little lighter color. There was paint left; so I decided to paint another wall but just under the shelves not above them. I got two walls painted that way. The next morning I woke up and looked right into the closet. Oh, No! It was extremely obvious that above and below the shelves was a different color. I would never be happy with that. I went to Leoti, took my paint chip and said please match this as close as possible. After all it is a separate room. They did a great job of matching! I took everything out of the closet and painted and repainted. That took almost a whole gallon. Altogether I used three gallons of paint. Since I had everthing out of the closet, I went through all of my clothes and made a pile for the Thrift Shoppe - quite a few things. Now I have a clean and refreshed room even though that is not what I intended to do when I thought I needed a new mattress.

It Came!

A few weeks ago, I woke up with a backache. That occurred 3 or 4 times. I thought "I'm going to have to go see Jerry." (or maybe the chiropractor in Leoti) It was so bad I decided to sleep on the sofa. Next morning my back was fine. Thought - You need a new mattress! So I went and got our old one from the basement in the south house to try again. One side was soso. The other side was AWFUL. OK - I need a new mattress. Tuesday I called the store in Scott City - "How soon can you deliver a mattress?" "This afternoon - no, wait, Friday would be better because we are going to Leoti then" "Ok, I'll be over to pick one out." Halfway to Scott City, I thought that I might as well paint the bedroom before getting a new mattress. Gwen would probably help me get the mattress and box springs out to the garage; then there would just be the frame and headboard to move. I had been thinking I needed to repaint the bedroom for about four years, but I needed to sand, stain and seal the window sills and that should be done first. But ok, I'll paint. Since I was in Scott City I bought paint there. (No need to drive to Leoti 24 miles away when I was in Scott.) Gwen helped me with the mattress and boxsprings and with emptying a dresser (with a heavy mirror) of drawers and moving it away from the wall. Later I was moving other things out of the room to be ready to paint in the morning. Well, I looked at the window sills - I have sandpaper; so I started sanding. I washed the walls (Joann does this - I never do) The water was really dirty! The next day I painted. A gallon of paint JUST BARELY was enough for one coat. Of course, a second coat was needed. The next day I went to Leoti to finally go to the treasurer's office to change the title for my new (to me) vehicle. I looked at the papers that had come (finally after 25 days) with the transfer title - I had to have the Highway Patrol check the VIN number since the vehicle had come from out of state. Well, the sheriff could do it; so I went to Leoti and got that done. Then over to Scott City for more paint - couldn't get that brand in Leoti. When I got to the lumberyard, the lady that waited on me was a student of mine when I taught 6th grade at Shallow Water 39 years ago! She said the walls must have really soaked up the paint. She asked me how long it had been since the room had been painted - 16 years. Thursday I painted the room a second time, put stain on the windowsills and some other places that needed it and put on a coat of polyurethane. Then I put some furniture back. Today I washed curtains and the new mattress came. I have a really clean room. I had maybe a fifth of a gallon of paint left and a quart I had bought the first time just in case there wasn't quite enought of the first gallon for a second coat. Now I am trying to encourage myself to paint as much of the closet as I can - at least one wall. I'm sure most of you did not know that buying a new mattress entailed that much work.

Traveling

I have been on some very good trips for about the last two weeks. First I went to the state track meet at Wichita to watch Paige run and watch some of the other members of the high school track team as well. Paige did well. It was definitely hot there! I stayed at Jerry and Jennifer's.
Two days after that my sister Jeanne came and we went to a first cousin reunion on my mother's side at the Marion County Lake. We had never had a reunion, and everyone came except one. (We are not a large family.) The one cousin's husband had had heart surgery the week before and couldn't travel. She was the one who had the idea and planned it.
Two days after that my sister and I traveled to Poland. Her son was getting married there.
He had gone to a university in Warsaw and earned two master's degrees. While there he met a young lady. We had good flights and our luggage was always there when we were. We flew from Wichita to Chicago then straight to Warsaw on the Polish airline LOT. That flight was 8 1/2 hours. We were met at the airport by Jason and Alex and then drove about an hour to Alex's parents home where we stayed. Her parents are geneticists and live across the street from the company's research facility. There are four apartments in the building they live in, but no one lives in three of the apartments. So wedding guest relatives stayed in them. Alex's parents both speak English. Her father better than her mother. He meets people from different countries in his work. In fact a man who lives about 50 miles from me had been there to buy tritacale from his company. We arrived on Thursday afternoon. Poland is seven hours ahead of us timewise. On Friday the father had arranged a guided tour of Warsaw for my sister and me and his brother's family from Canada. We toured a castle, saw a statue of Chopin, went to the site of the Jewish Ghetto when the Nazis were in control there with a monument to the Jews, went to Old Town and a museum commeroating the Jewish Ghetto uprising in '43 (I think that was the year.) The Germans bombed and flattened the ghetto; then when the Russians came in after the Germans, they flattened most of the rest of Warsaw. Warsaw was rebuilt using as much as they could from the rubble. Old Town had had a wall around it and they rebuilt part of the wall. Our guide had been a toddler at this time and she and her mother lived in Warsaw. One of the men we met had been in the resistance movement when the Communists controlled the country. He had been picked up twice and questioned by police. He and his wife fled to France in 1988. The Polish people were very glad to get their country back when the Communists were ousted in 1989. The hospitality was great, the weather was beautiful, the wedding was great and they all had a really good time at the feast and dance afterward. When we got to the place of the celebration, the tables were set with dishes, silverware, salads, plates of meat, bread, fruit, cake and drinks of all kinds. Before too long waitresses came, took the dirty plates and silverware, gave us clean ones then brought more food. Before too long they came again and took our dirty plates and silverware, gave us clean ones and brought more food. They probably did this at least five more times before Jeanne and I left at 2:30 a.m. The wedding party got home about 4:00. They had brought more food after we left. The next morning we were back at the same place and had a meal with many of the guests from the night before. We again had food and food.
Some of Alex's relatives did not come because there was flooding in the southern part of the country. They had been told to move their belongings to the second floor in their homes and were concerned they would be told to evacuate. Some family members stayed home to watch things and several came. There was also flooding in Warsaw as a river runs through it. The family and guests were all very friendly to us. We stayed near those who spoke English and quite a bit of translating had to be done.
On Monday, Jason, Jeanne, Alex's brother and I rode the train to Warsaw. The brother was going back to work and the rest of us did some sightseeing and shopping. We were fed as well when at Alex's parents as when at the wedding. They were very gracious hosts.
Tuesday we flew to Chicago. We were going west so had daylight the whole way as opposed to darkness part of the way on the trip over. We were able to see snow covered mountains in Iceland and Greenland and some of Hudson Bay on this flight. It was a 9 1/2 hour flight. We spent the night in Chicago and flew to Wichita Wednesday morning . That flight was less than two hours and seemed short. Jennifer and boys picked us up at the airport. After a nap at Jennifer's, I drove on home. The dogs were glad to see me. I was glad I went to each of the events I attended.

Still Here

I decided that you all might like to know what I have been doing the past few months.

In January we had quite a few foggy mornings and days. About the middle of the month, I was heading to town to substitue. It was REALLY foggy. I WAS driving slower than usual. I say tail lights ahead of me. Next I realized the lights were not moving. I REALLY put on the brakes but did not get stopped until I hit the bumper of a feed truck turning off the road. The bumper was high enough that it did not hit my bumper; so the air bag did not go off. I was not hurt and neither was the feed truck - not even a scratch on the feed truck. (Feed truck bumpers are steel not plastic.) My Trail Blazer needed a new hood and engine among other things. It was not totaled. After seven weeks of driving two different cars and pick-up (that also had a problem and left me stranded on the highway), I got the Trail Blazer back. There is still a small part back ordered.

I spent about three days with Aubrey, Luke and Jackson while Jerry and Jennifer were in Mexico. That was fun. I also got to shop and have lunch with a friend who had moved there from Leoti a few years ago. After that I went on a Walk to Emmaus - a church retreat.

Next I went on a mission trip to a children's home in Mexico sponsored by our church. Our youth pastor had planned it as a trip for teens, but only two teens signed up to go; so it was opened up to anyone who wanted to go. There were ten of us - four over sixty (older teens).
The youth pastor had prayed and told God it was His trip and whoever He wanted to go should go. There was also a group from Texas there who we did not know was going to be there until we got to the border. They had planned a Bible School for the children at the home and from the village across the road. No one from the Texas group spoke Spanish. We had two interpretors with us! Two couple who operate the home but don't live in the houses with the children live in fifth wheel trailers on site. They wanted their trailers hooked up to the gas line for the shop and kitchen building next to where they are parked. A man with our group works for the gas company in Leoti. He knew just how to do it! One of the houses for children was empty and they wanted some of the rooms repainted. I thought - I can do that. Then they said they wanted the kitchen cabinets strippped to be repainted but they wanted that done by someone who had don stripping before. Guess what - myself and another lady with us had stripped furniture before! Isn't God amazing? One day they wanted someone to accompany two of the men to town about thirty miles away I and another lady went along to do that. Where do you suppose we went in a town in Mexico with a population of at least a million? Wal-Mart and then to Sam's Club. The men had gone to Home Depot to get parts. All of our group thought it was a really worth while trip and would go again.

During the winter I went to most of Jason and Paige's basketball games. Now I am going to most of the high school track meets. Paige runs the 3200, 1600, 4 X 400 and sometimes the 800.

Jennifer and I went to Winfield to Margie Harmon's funeral. We were glad we went.

I am still making Teddy Bears, teaching the 3rd-5th grade Sunday School class and am now mowing yards. The weeds and grass are growing like crazy. The young couple who lived in the south house moved to Texas. Within a week another couple and their two little girls moved in. I am glad to have someone living there. With all of my busyness I do miss Bob greatly. Keeping busy helps. It is good to have Gwen and Jason, Paige and Lane close. I don't know what I would do without Jason and the hired man Russell. It's also great that Jennifer and Jerry and family are within easy driving distance.

The 2010 wheat crop is nearly all planted, (some is up)-fall harvest is nearly here-maybe tomorrow and it's time to wean calves. Have you ever thought how much farming and ranching is a yearly repeat of the year before? Like Mike and Dana we've had abundant fall rains and cool weather. Warm dry weather would hasten fall harvest and let us get that done before winter (we hope). Green grass the last of September is very unusual for our ranching area but the cows and calves are doing great. We got all the calves vaccinated a couple weeks ago so I hope to wean this week depending on how corn harvest begins. It'll be noisy for awhile with a couple hundred bawling babies. Milo looks good and is mature and actually a good freeze would help that happen rapidly. The feedlot rehab project is finished (at least this stage) and looks good. We are looking into an airless paint sprayer to paint nearly 7500' of pipe fence. If any of you are bored with what you're doing , come on out.
Ann has 2 weeks of subbing ahead of her for a young lady taking cancer treatments. Ann looks forward to subbing but is always glad to be home.
I had a 6 month check-up with the neurologist in Hays Thursday. She didn't up my medication but is threatening a MRI if my mini-seizures don't cease on the new medicine. They are much less frequent than before and as a rule I believe I feel better.
Paige is having an awesome cross-country season and set a new school record yesterday with her time. Jo-do you remember our jesting about staying with you and Dick for state cross-country? May just happen!! At this pace, she should qualify for state and I would expect her to medal if her times continue to improve. No pressure, huh?
Blogging has kind of faded with the popularity of Facebook but it's good to keep somewhat updated on happenings. Bob

what comes around goes around!

40 years gatherings

40 years gatherings? August 19,1969 we were a newlywed couple embarking on our life together. Little did we know 40 years could pass so quickly and easily. Now all of a sudden we are senior citizens, grandparents of 5 (including 2 teenage girls) and still busy as can be. We've had a great 40 years together (actually we dated for 2 1/2 years before marrying. Dreams we had back then are distant memories and some are still dreams I guess. Jennifer and Gwen and their families are so special and fantastic it's hard to realize that we could be great-grandparents in a few more years. That does sound aged, doesn't it? It's great having daughters bringing their own children up to know God's ways.
We had a really neat weekend last week with bowling, minitature golf and a very special dinner at a nice place and then Sunday services and lunch together with a photo session later. Paige has some really nice photos on her Facebook. I haven't seen anybody else's yet.
Meanwhile, life must go on. August is nearly over and we had a great rain Tuesday night that will really help the milo and corn finish up.. I have been having some sickness with our calves on our cows from the really cool nights.. I've had to rope and doctor a few and spend time checking them closer. The grey horse (his name) does a really good job of holding the calves while I give the medicine. We're trying to wind up the feedlot rehab program for the summer and have a couple of pens of cattle to feed now as well. Wheat planting will be soon and we plan to try silage harvest Monday if it is not too muddy. Corn harvest and then milo harvest and fall field work and this and that.
I got to have another cancer taken from my right ear last week and another biopsy on the left ear. Guess too much sun for a little blonde headed boy. Now my ears don't match.
I don't have anything to really compare to but I can confidently say that my wife for the past 40 years can't be beat and we look forward to celebrating our 50th. Thanks for your love-Ann. Your're the best. Bob

Check out Paige's facebook for some neat family photos-Thanks Paige!!