Friday, May 22, 2026

Quiet Couple of Days.....

 Kinda not really but sorta.....
hahahahaha.

The guys would beg to differ.

Yesterday Jim and Kyle got the AC ducts
and vents almost all installed.
They ran out of 8" duct tubing
so needed to get more.
But it rained last night so Kyle
didn't run into town to get any.

AND they were watching the
Starship launch (that scrubbed)
and by then it was raining and too late.

We got about half an inch!
YEA!
But the driveways get really muddy...

Anyhow.
I made some grilled cheese 
sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner.

Today the roads were yucky,
so we all stayed home.
Except Kyle decided to bring the Trooper
up the back roads and come into town
to bring me some eggs and watch
the Starship launch with Jim.

I haven't taken any pictures though.


Mostly I read a book.
Sabrina came home early.
They only work half days on Friday.
AND she gets Monday off!
LONG weekend her first week!

So, she baked cookies.
We are all going to need to start
running marathons.
Kyle LOVED the oatmeal raisin cookies.
She sent him home with a bunch.
(And he ATE a bunch while he was here...)

The chocolate chip cookies are really good too.
But OATMEAL RAISIN!
(Not Rod's or Jim's favorites... so Kyle
and I get to indulge to our heart's content!)

Anyhow

Have a wonderful weekend and a 
fun Memorial Day!

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

You Know You Are In WaKeeney IF........

 You are sitting in your car
on Main Street.
(Waiting for one of the Sister Sisters
at her Chiropractor...)
and a car pulls in next to you.
The woman and her little girl
get out and go into the hair salon
next door to the chiropractor.

Leaving the back door open 
on the SUV.
(Mom looked back, saw it open
and made the decision to leave it...)


And if you look closely, 
Mom's PURSE is hanging on
the back of the passenger seat.

They were STILL in the salon
and the door was still open when
Dinah came out and we left.
(I could have gotten out and closed
the door.... but I didn't.)
I know, right?

Poor Dinah.
She has been messing with a rib issue
even longer than Rod has.
It pops out of place.
And then she does a bunch of PT and
stuff and it gets better and then it gets 
worse again.

This time it is SO painful she can't sit,
stand, lay down, breath, or ... pretty much
anything except be in pain.
She went to the hospital earlier in the
week and they did an x-ray and said
everything looked good.
They also did a CT.
(She's a large woman and their MRI is
actually for pediatrics...)

She texted and asked if I could run her
back to the ER this morning.
Of course I can!
So I picked her up and took her over.
(Her car is in the shop today...)
I dropped her off and told her to let
me know when she was done.

An hour or so later they had drugged
her up with some IV tylenol,
and some Gabby, and some muscle
relaxants, and possibly more stuff.
Also put a Lidocaine patch on her.
And said she should go see the town
chiropractor.
He's 77 years old and really good.
So I drove her downtown
(ok, it's like 6 blocks... lol) and
was sitting there while she went in.
It was 12:45 and they take a lunch
from 1-2:30 every day, so he wasn't
busy and went ahead and did an exam
and then an adjustment.

He said her body has gotten used to where
the rib is now, and has decided that's where
it belongs. Which HURTS.
He put it back, and it REALLY helped.
But he said we have to retrain your body.
So it's not going to last.
Come back at 3:45.

I took her across the street to our little
town pharmacy for her prescription
and then home, where she fell asleep
for the first time in several days!
Picked her back up at 3:30 for her
appointment.
She said she felt really good until 3:00
when she felt it pop back out of place again
and all the muscles tighten up again.

He said he was able to get 3 in easily
but the 4th really wanted to fight.
So she's got another appointment
tomorrow morning.
But her car should be done by then.
We'll see.....

Anyhow.
Rod worked on the shower and then came
home to get cleaned up and go into Hays
for Mutual.
Jim and Kyle worked on getting in the
AC ducts in about half the rooms!
YEA!
Sabrina had a good day 3.
And I played Uber.

And now, class is over and I'm heading
out into the living room to eat the yummy
pork chops I can smell Jim cooking!

Have a great night everybody!

Monday, May 18, 2026

Woo Hoo!!!!

 Howdy!
Welcome to Monday.

Sabrina started her new job today!
She did orientation starting at 8:20
and they said she would be done at 3.
So she was planning to leave.
BUT, they were really happy with her,
and the people in her new office came
and snatched her away and brought
her up and spent the next 2 hours
showing her around and introducing
her to the doctors and just basically
making her feel welcome.
YEA!!!!!
It's what we were praying for.
(She was NERVOUS!)

So that's good!

Kyle and I drove out to the next
little town west of us, called Colyer,
where our mechanic is located.
(When we NEED one....)
He hasn't had any AC in his VW Golf
for a while and it gets HOT around here.
You can survive it when you are 
beebooping down the roads at 75 mph
with the windows down...
but when you are sitting in a parking lot
waiting for a door dash gig, it gets a bit warm.
So we dropped his car off.
Fingers crossed it won't cost 
an arm and a leg!

And then we went up to the farm and
checked on the progress.
They are getting the prep room all
taped and mudded.
Looking GOOD!
And we decided the placement for the
electrical outlets we want to install in the
living room floor. 
(So we don't need extension chords
running all over the place..... YEA!)

We also met a neighbor, Barb,
who dropped by to say thank you 
for reporting the fire and getting it
put out before her house burned down...
She lives in the farm to the west of us,
where the fire started.
We had a nice visit!

And, we checked on the garden,
I've got some baby cantaloupe
and watermelon plants starting!
(Now if we can keep the rabbits from
eating ALL the leaves off the bean plants!)

And then I headed home and made a big
pot of potato soup, because
YESTERDAY it was 90.
TODAY it made it to 57.
BRRRRRRR.
Soup just sounded good.
And then off to my office to teach.

And while I was teaching, I got an email
from my boss with the first half of the
year bonus contest.
I pretty consistently come in 4th place,
which is pretty good considering I only
teach zoom review and Louisiana
(who doesn't have a very good track record...)
The bonus is based on total licenses achieved.

So 4th is respectable and still earns a
couple hundred dollars.

But THIS time......
I came in SECOND!!!!!
(1st place did 101 licenses, she teaches
GIANT classes in Miami every weekend...)
I did 42 which is pretty good for people
who are just coming to review!
AND my bonus is a very useful
$1500!!!


All-in-all a pretty good day!
(And now I'm going to go eat some soup.)

Sunday, May 17, 2026

What a Class....

 Actually, it was a good class.
Most everybody arrived on time and
stayed all day.
Those who were substantially late
also left early, so not my problem.
(grin)

But.........
I had TWO women in my class named Eleanor.


In fact, I thought it was cool, so I even
took a picture of the Kahoot score page
where they were both listed.
I was thinking about Grandma all weekend!

And then it got weird.

Friday night, I re-type the list of all the students 
into Excel, because the list I get from the company
is alphabetical by last name.
And NOBODY logs into Zoom with their last name.
Trying to find them to keep track of their attendance
that way is a nightmare.
So I re-type them and then have Excel put them
in alphabetical order by first name.
Phew. So much easier.
BUT.....
tonight when I was finished class, I pulled up the
official roster to put in the hours and Ellenor was
MISSING from the roster!
(Ok, maybe her manager cancelled her thinking 
she wasn't going to attend... could happen...)
Except her company ID number came up belonging
to some person with a really weird name in AZ.
Hmmmmmmmmm.

And then, to make things even weirder, I had
a guy show up for class this morning and he
wasn't registered. Which happens. They are just
walk-ins. Maybe he just joined the company
last night and his people stuck him in class.
That happens too.
Except when I tried to register him,
he doesn't even EXIST!
(Maybe he's NEW NEW and they just 
haven't updated it yet? But he had a company
ID number..... its a mystery.)

So, that was fun.
HOPEFULLY one, or both, will reach out to
me and want to know what happened to their 
hours.
Otherwise?
No idea what to do next.
I sent a nice LONG email to my boss.
He loves those.
Ha!

Anyhow.


Saturday Rod got the walls in on the shower.
And then had a minor glitch which will require
replacing one of them.
But that shouldn't be a problem.

And the guys got the gardens weeded and the alleys
between the rows mowed.
THAT is a job, because it's a PUSH mower.
And those corn rows are 170 feet long!
(And there are a LOT of them...)

And then, once everybody was home and 
Sabrina had made us some awesome homemade
pizza (supreme and mac&cheese! yum!)
we turned on 
Ryan Hall Y'all
(A YouTube weatherman...)
who had guys IN WAKEENEY storm chasing!
Ok, they didn't START out in WaKeeney,
but there was some CRAZY storms last night,
so there were live streams from KS, Nebraska,
Missouri, Iowa.....

But there was a big storm with 82 mph winds
recorded at the Hill City Airport!


Terrible picture, but across the top in the red
banner it says 82 mph wind gust reported in
Hill City, KS as severe storms sweep the plains.

So yeah.
The farm is about 10 minutes out of Hill.
But Kyle kept a close eye.
He got 1.03 inches of rain. *YEA!!!
No hail. (or tiny if there was...)
And his home weather station reported
the biggest gust was 31 mph.
So all good there.

However, all over social media today there
are pictures of a Haboob, which is a giant
dust wall like in the movie The Mummy.
And it was LITERALLY right outside
of WaKeeney.
The Sister Sisters got a "sort of" picture of it!
Out their back patio!

So when the weather chasers went live and
they were sitting at the gas station here in town,
Jim hopped in his truck and headed out.
He didn't see them, they had moved on already,
and it was too dark to see the Haboob by then.

But it was an exciting night, for sure!

And now.... Sabrina and I are going to try
to figure out what to feed this herd for dinner.
Kyle is coming into town.
And everybody is going to want something more
than spaghetti with Ragu sauce.
Ha.

Have a great night!
I hear Rod watching Ryan Hall Y'all again....
but looking out my office window,
the sky looks nice and blue.
It's been in the 90s for the past few days.
Tomorrow and most of this week
the highs are in the 60s.
Nice break.

AND Sabrina starts her new job Orientation
tomorrow!
Fingers crossed she loves it 
AND they love her!
(They will....)

Nite all!

Friday, May 15, 2026

Good Morning!

 Yesterday we got the Penske truck
returned to Colby... it was WINDY
when they left WaKeeney.
Good thing Jim is a licensed professional!
Keeping that high profile, empty truck
on all four wheel on the highway was
a bit of a challenge!
Luckily it smoothed out after 30 minutes
or so...

Anyhow.

After that, he and I headed out to the farm
to inventory the starter plants we have
purchased from the greenhouse as well
as the new seeds I started 2 weeks ago.

And then we started 3 more trays of 
peppers and some tomatoes.

Meanwhile, 
Sabrina was in her happy place.


As you can tell, it was DELICIOUS!
Bread baking in a low humidity kitchen
(and 10+ degrees warmer than she kept
her Florida kitchen) is a new and challenging
experience, but she is up for it!

Meanwhile, Rod and Kyle were busy at
the house and got the new shower stall
all glued in and ready for the walls.


I think we will like having a seat
in the shower!
(We donated Rod's shower chair and
raised toilet seat/chair to the YW/YM
Yard Sale later this month...)


They also hooked up the electricity and
ran some lights in our GIANT
master bedroom closet
(which is currently the staging area
for many of the projects...)
as well as lights in the new mechanical room.
AND the outlets are also hot in there,
so Rod can run an extension chord and
turn on his fan.
It's in the 90's this week and it gets
HOT in the house!

Once we were all done there for the evening,
we headed home.
I made a batch of Spam Casserole for dinner 
and then had a Relief Society Presidency 
zoom meeting.
And Sabrina baked chocolate chip cookies!


She loves to bake!

Today she is planning to use up some of the
bananas I had tucked in the freezer and make
a loaf of banana bread.

We are all going to get fat.
But it's YUMMY!
And we are all working hard over the
summer so baked goods are always
a welcome addition to our lunch boxes.

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Another Busy Day!!!!!

 This morning (Wednesday)
Rod and Jim headed up to the house
and worked with Kyle getting the
drywall installed in the mechanical 
room (the office closet where the
washer/dryer, hot water heater and
AC unit will be...).

And then they got the AC unit
IN the mechanical room!
It's not hooked up,
but it's inside the right place!!!


That thing is WICKED heavy!
But they got it in.
(And Rod didn't lift anything...
good man!)

Meanwhile, Sabrina and I headed back
into Hays to get a physical required before
she is "officially" hired at her new job!

She said they were all super friendly
and, of course, she passed!

A quick run to WalMart and then we drove
the route she will take into town
to avoid the traffic circles.
(They just don't sound like they would
be fun during the morning rush hour...)
They aren't EVER fun.
Let's be honest.
Hahahaha.

Anyhow.
While I was waiting for her, my boss called
because the company decided to change the 
sign in procedure for Zoom.
And as a result, he can get into his account.
And I can get into my account.
But we can't get into each other's accounts!
And that's a problem, since his account
hosts my weeknight review classes!
(And if we move them to my account,
it will change the meeting code that we have
carefully used over and over for the past
nearly 6 years!)
And heaven forbid something happens to
either of us, NOBODY can get into the accounts.
(Really HQ? Whose idea was this.....)

I think we got it figured out.
I am now able to get into his and he can get
into mine, but ONLY if we don't accidentally
delete the email invitation the system generated today.

No pressure.


When Jim got home, and while I was teaching,
they worked on getting their room a little
"homier" looking.

Put up some pictures, a desk, some tables,
and a TV along with their bed and giant
dog bed for their baby, Charlotte.

I'll take another picture once they get it all
situated. But it's looking good!

I realized I have ZERO pictures of Jim,
so here you go.
MOM!
You remember hair like that!!!
Although I don't know if it was ever as long
and flowing and curly since you were a young girl...

He is definitely YOUR grandson though!

Ok. 
I'm heading to the kitchen to help
Jim make some burgers for dinner.
Rod is in town at Mutual but should 
be heading home soon.

Nite all!

Monday, May 11, 2026

They Are HERE!!!!!

 And did I take any pictures???
Nope.

They arrived about 11pm Sunday evening.
It was a LONG day for everyone!
They decompressed for a little,
Sabrina hopped in the shower,
Jim and Kyle ate a little food,
and then we ALL headed to bed.
(Kyle took Bear and drove to their house
and THEN bed...)

This morning we visited for a bit
and then the guys headed to the
storage unit to unload the Penske truck.

Sabrina and I headed to the farm to
water the garden,
unload all the garden stuff from the
back of my car,
and then went to the storage unit
bearing COLD WATER for the guys.
They were nearly finished already!!!

And now we are home again,
Sabrina is organizing her stuff in
their bedroom,
I'm doing last week's paperwork in preparation
to start class tonight.
And we have some chicken in the
pressure cooker.

I think she's going to take a nap.


Here we go.
We are both tired,
(and wind blown...)
but this is US!

More photos to follow.
But for now I'm going to make a sandwich
and take a quick snooze before class.