Friday, March 23, 2007

Same Stuff...... Different Day? Not Quite.

Well, it seems I have trouble being consistent. I started this blog with full intents of keeping up with it in a timely manner. Yes, the world is full of people with good intentions and look at what awful shape the world is in. It is not that I haven't wanted to write, it just has been more than chaotic around here. For those of you that know me well, you know my house can be like a 3 ring circus and never a dull moment. Well, the circus is in town again with the calliope at full steam.

I have been trying to to spring cleaning. Not just any spring cleaning but the really deep, "I haven't done this for so long it looks like I'm cave cleaning" cleaning. And I was getting a pretty good handle on it, too. But then some overcast days came along and my spirit became overcast as well. I had some of the biggest gray funkies I have ever had. So, I took a couple steps forward and about 5 steps back, 8 steps to the left and a good prat fall down. Spirit wise, the reemergence of Spring has helped and I'm struggling in the right direction again, but not without hurdles and I have never been much of an athlete.

Last Sunday, we made a rescue trip to Inkom, ID. Youngest son, Ben and his girl, Tish, were en route from Boise to here to begin re-nesting our empty nest. They had packed their belongings all day on Friday and Saturday and were planning on leaving around 10 PM or so and driving all night, even though they had been given parental advice not to. Leaving at closer to midnight than 10 PM, they set out with Ben driving the giant UHaul with Tish's car on a dolly in tow and Tish following behind in Ben's 86 full size Bronco. Dad and I left the light on and went to bed.

Upon arising Sunday morn, the porch light was still on and no sign of the kids. Around 8, Ben called to say they had got as far as Burley and just couldn't stay awake any longer. Even by then they had been pushing it, but were unaccustomed to the drive and missed earlier exits.
They had slept in the truck in the Wally World lot, had just woken up and were taking care of essential needs, bathroom, food, gas (for the truck), and would head out and see us probably around noon. (Yes, youth has a lot of optimsm.) We figured we would catch Sacrament Meeting at church and come on back home to find them pulling in. But, just as I head for my blow dryer the sound of Dad's answering the phone with "Hunters'......Is she alright?!?!?!?!?" stopped me in my tracks. They had left Burley, passed the I-84 exit, continued on to Pocatello and gone south on I-15, were just past Inkom, when the Bronco swerved and Tish overcorrected, pinball bounced off the guardrail and spun around on the freeway. Luckily, she only had a few scrapes and bruises and a deep wound of humilialtion. The Bronco however, fared less well. It was incapable of being driven any further. After, some more discussion, several more phone calls on both ends and more discussion, it was determined (by the sage parents) we would go help them change out the tow dolly with the Bronco and the little car and drive the UHaul truck back to UT.

Dad and I made pretty good time up there, I was driving of course. After recontacting the towers, who had put the Bronco in their impound lot, we struggled and got it on the tow dolly and eventually strapped on. (Please Note: Struggled is about as nice as I can put this, use your own imagination to come up with a fitting description.) Dad takes his postion behind the wheel of the UHaul truck w/tow dolly and we're off! For at least a few miles, anyway. I have taken point, followed by the UHaul/dolly, and Tish driving with Ben in her little car. Dad and Ben are in communication by way of walkie talkies and Ben can call me using the cell phones, when he has service. About 5-10 miles out, Dad thinks he remembers something about dropping the drive line on rear wheel drive vehicles, but to be safe I need to call other son, Bob in Wyoming, to be sure. (Bob is our family mechanic or at the very least advisor.) Bob says yes or Ben will have to replace his new transmission. Emergency lanes in Idaho seem to be littered by Hunter family tracks as it seems we are always pulling off and stopping, and fixing or attempting to fix.

After struggling again (please refer to previous note) we get back on the road for the l-o-n-g trip home. Finally, after traffic, speed and construction struggles (again, please refer to previous note) we get home about 6:45 PM. With no chance to unload to the storage unit, we detemine we will just leave evrything parked on the street until we come up with what to do next, some rest, catching up on missed meals or whatever.

Monday morning and the sun has brightened us. Ben begins online searching for Bronco parts, UHaul drop off information and a list of other things. I try to find out how to contact a good body repairman. And Tish begins unloading things to be left here at the house. Dad it seems thinks going to his office is more important so leaves.

As the day progresses it too contiunes to get longer and longer, just as yesterday had done. We drove the UHaul/dolly to Provo and back to Orem, had to have SIL James help us out with a truck form his work, had someone run into the back of the empty tow dolly, got sun burned, slowly emptied the truck contents, finally got the truck/dolly dropped off at 6 PM and came home. Again, to say whatever, after fixing dinner.

Tuesday, again lots of internet searching, phone calls and more "struggles." My brain is getting fuzzy to details for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yesterday, Jim flew to Colo. Springs, CO for a meeting today and I'll pick him up this afternoon. Ben and Tish are going to take the other things they don't have room for here over to the storage unit ( it will make walking through the house much easier) andI am hoping to get back to some organizing and cleaning downstairs, so that hopefully there will be room for Bob, Teresa, RJ, Donna, Baby Kenzie and German Shepard Sassy to come for a few days this next week.

So if you are looking for some excitement to your otherwise quiet life, please come on over, we would love to see you...... hopefully through the cloudy haze of chaos!!!

Monday, March 5, 2007

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose

I guess I must accept the invetible. Sigh....., it's going and quicker than I'd like.
I got on the computer after church and meetings yesterday, specifically to make a post to this blog, but I couldn't remember my user id and password. I tried everything I could think of for over 20 minutes and not one of them worked. Little did I know, I had the corrrect user id and password just not in the right sequence. With an exhale of disgust, shoulders slumped in dispair and my self confidence already closing the bathroom door, I remembered I had saved the email verification in my "Clubs " file of my inbox. Halelujah!!!! Salvation from my dimishing brain cells! (Don't those genius geek types refer to that as a type of backdoor technique.)
Quickly clicking over to my open "Outlook" and scrolling down to the "Clubs" file I dropped all the way down to the end of the alphabetical list and clicked "Yahoo". To my astonishment the verification was not there. I searched again, but no, I hadn't filed it! Frantically, I went back to my "Inbox" back to Friday's mail, searching; then searching Thursday's, Saturday's again and again.
Great, just great! What kind of an idiot starts a blog, tells her friends and family and then can't get access to it ever again? Only a demented, senile, dummy! (Yes, I can be pretty hard on myself and that was just the Sunday correct language.)
My head plunged downward in hopelessness. I felt as though I had been turned out into a black hole. Starting a blog is not rocket science. I work on the computer every day. I have been doing most of my finances on the computer for several years now. I know I am usually a competent and fairly intelligent person. Where did I go wrong? I rehashed everything over in my mind, step by step, process by process, and yet I couldn't solve this dilemma.
Since by this time more than an hour had gone by, I gave up. I forced my disappoinment, confusion and incapability to the dungeon of my mind and with an aura of sadness began to focus on a Food Network program.
After a news program, shuffling some papers, a couple HGTV porgrams and bedtime prayers I called it a day and went off to bed with no thought to my unacomplishment. Earlier, between the food show and the news, I had resolved I would call B-Jo and plead for compassion for her dingy mother. (She's so good at helping me figure out my ineptitudes.) So, I slipped under the covers and drifted off peacefully.
Then about 3 hours later, as I rolled over to get re-comfortable and realizing that would not be achieved until I got up and went to the bathroom, it hit me! Not like a ton of bricks, more like the "I could've had a V-8" head slap. Duh.....it was "Google" not "Yahoo"!!!!!


If I am going to regain things in the middle of the night when I am supposed to be sleeping, all I can say is I am going to be extremely sleep deprived.

Can we say "Nap"? ;)

Friday, March 2, 2007

This Should Be Fun.....Hopefully

Well after much consideration I have decided to start my own 'blog', but I'm not sure why. That will remain to be seen. To begin, I don't think this will be very interesting, but I hope that as time goes on it will get better. That's a lot like me because I hope I am getting better as time goes on. And you can take that however you'd like. Personally, I can think of several areas where I hope I am getting better.
What is typed here may not sound very wise to some, but then it is my blog and I can decide what I thinks counts as wisdom or not. So I suppose for this my very first blog entry I should include some sage words. Hmmmmm........
Ok, here goes.
"Every part of every day is part of our lifetest. The last ten minutes may have been just a short answer question, while later this afternoon we may experience a comprehensive essay, and don't ever forget the continual pop quizes; we are all being tested on our being. And though most of us would really rather do almost anything than take a test, the final grade here is eternally crucial. Remember to enjoy the easy parts, true/false, multiple choice, and be grateful for the opportunity to show what you know on the rest."