And then the Batroom flooded.

All seems peaceful when I went to put on a bit of makeup and fluff my hair before going out to run errands. Then I hear a strange noise and feel dampness on my bare feet. A shut off valve under the sink has broken and the carpet is rapidly soaking. I ran to get Robert. He got it partly shut off but it was in a tight place he couldn't get to. We called Mr Rooter and the nicest guy came right over and went to work. After some discussion we decided to change all the valves in the house. There are eight,. $500.00 worth of repairs in a few hours. It seemed the thing to do. Then the real work began, getting carpet up and dried, the pad dried . Much moving, tugging etc for Robert with his bad back. Two days worth of aggression and misery. Robert said carpet should be outlawed in a bathroom and tried to talk me into tile. Still the bathroom is large and the carpet flows from the master bedroom so I could only imagine that it would look strange. It's enough to make one think they might like to live in an apartment where such crisis's are someone Else's problem.

Well, it is about back to normal after two days and nights, and I realize once more how much I depend on living a very organized life. Thank Goodness for Robert. He hates for me to hire anyone else as they don't do a perfect job like he does and he has to do it over. This is true. He is a perfectionist, in spite of a little mumbling and grumbling, I can count on it being very well done at the end, so I am grateful. A home is a big responsibility. Still I enjoy it and the big yard with so much peace and quiet. I doubt I will be moving until I go the big subdivision in the sky.

Mason and Clifford the Big Red Dog

Gerry inspired me to go back to my Grandson's young days. When he was a baby the Churchman's (His maternal Grand parents) always bought him very expensive presents. I decided right away I wasn't going to get into a competition over the gift giving. Still I wanted to give something thoughtful and memorable.

Fortuitously, when Mason visited me when he was about 18 months, I got some Clifford books to read to him. He laughed so hard at the antics of the big red dog that his contagious laughter had my sister Melba, and I in stitches. From then on he always requested Clifford books when he visited. This of course inspired me to buy the first stuffed dog. He was so pleased I kept adding to the collection until he had every size possible. He loved them so much that whenever a trip was planned a couple of the small dogs had to be the first thing in his suit case. They were never far from him. Especially at nap time, as you can see. When he was a teenager Randy sneaked in and got the grown up picture. He warned me to never let Mason know he had given this to me. However I was so struck by the continued innocent expresson on his face that I framed them together and set them on my night stand. As luck would have it Mason visited, and walked directly to my bedroom and saw the picture. he didn't act to embarrassed or angry so this was good. It was some years before he agreed to give up his Clifford collection. I hope some little boy got it and loves them as much as Mason did. Oh yes, Mason is a big dog lover. He did his stint working in a dogie day ccare. Of course he adopted a big old dog named Gus who has a lame leg. He could not have found a better home. I, of course felt I had batted a home run with this kid.

Mason is back in school,yeah

I just got off the phone with Lucinda, and I am so happy. We have all been dismayed that Mason developed a big antipathy for school. He can see the need of an education in this competitive world but could just not bring himself to do it. Randy has been so puzzled as he devoted himself to school and was grateful for the opportunity. Mason loved school when he was kid in Montessori, It suited him fine and he has proven himself to be very smart, but couldn't move ahead in the direction he needed to go. He had a difficult romance and gave up all his Hockey opportunities to please her(the girlfriend) as she wanted more time and attention.(There was never enough.) She became more and more needy until he could stand it no more. Of course the breakup was hard, as all of them are.

Lucina, who claims to be agnostic told me of this turn of events. She had an urge to drive out to Longmont to purchase a certain kind of sport shirt for Mason. On the way she notice this old building that looked as though it had been renovated from an old church. The sign said,"Adult Education." She stopped an picked up some material and took it home to Mason. He checked it out and is now enrolled in the classes he will need for collage. The amazing part of the story is that he LOVES it. Lucinda felt some sort of unusual force at work, in spite of herself. They have agonized over how life would work out for their precious son. Both she an Randy deserve a win in this respect and perhaps the path is now open. I told her about my accountant telling me how their best laid plans had been changed totally this summer. She is very spiritual and said after telling me the story of how everything had happened to put them in an even better place than they had planned, "I don't think there is such a thing as coincidence but just God being anonymous. Today I am feeling rather inspired.

Reading My Niece Pat's writing about brother Roger.

My nephew Roger drowned in Flaming Gorge in 1985. His body was not found until two years later. He was only 41 so it was very tragic for our whole family. His sister Patsy has been very ill . she is finally recovering enough that I can tal with her. She asked me if I had ever read what she had written. I hadn't and asked for a copy. It came today and I sat right down to read. She had choosen a unique way to tell his story by writing him a letter on each of his birthdays. expressing the feelings she had for him as a brother. She paid tribute to his many great qualities and expressed her sorry at losing him so soon. Also she thanked him in each of her letters for being such an important part of her life. It6 was very beautifully written and I think his children and grand children will find it a great treasure.

She ended with this quote I like.

"A symbol of hope a butter fly lights beside us like a sunbeam. And for a brief moment it's glory and beauty belong to our world,but then it flys again and though we wish it could have stayed ,we feel lucky to have seen it."

My Trevor is duly employeed

I was informed by phone, by a proud mother that her son is now working in the corn fields of Illinois. What a kid. They walk about four miles through the rows removing tassels from the the corn. Trevor was very excited about his first job. His mom said he came home from the first day so pooped out he went instantly asleep. She woke him for dinner. He ate and immediately went upstairs to sleep. This was a wise decision as he was to be back to the corn field at 5:30 a.m . I of course asked does he have dark glasses? Does he wear a hat and sunblock? The answer, yes plush long sleeved shirt, gloves and boots. Plenty of water was supplied. It is a good thing Trevor is in good shape from all of his sports. I was quite shocked that they could hire kids so young for such hard work but I guess it is common practice there among the many corn growers.

They pay them well,($7.50) per hour and if they do a good job and show up everyday, they get a two hundred and fifty dollar bonus at the end of the three week season. This will seem like great money to all the kids. The down side is they need them to work seven days a week. This will be rather grueling to say the least. Trevor is a very ambitious kid and asked me if he could work at McDonald's when he was three years old. Bryce, on the other hand has no interest in such endeavors. His grandpa back there asked him if he was going to work in the corn when he got old as Trevor, (12). He said, "No I just don't think that is for me." He is a comical little kid. Larena said he wants to make sure he can live at home until he is 35.

Speaking of working kids my grand nephew , Brandon, who always liked to draw cartoon figures from the time he was little now has has his dream job of illustrating children's books. I am very happy for him. He stuck to painting for sometime but this didn't exactly make a living, so his present job should be much better and still satisfy his need to be creative. I do think a good work ethic can help people to feel better about themselves, just because of their accomplishments. It doesn't always work out that way but the journey of striving toward goals adds enthusiasm to life.

Watching "What Dreams May Come"

Last night Robert and I watched this film, and even if it is fairly old I enjoyed it a lot. Robert had seen it but I hadn't. The putting together of a film from pure imagination about life after death was quite a fete.It was well crafted and gave food for thought. Unusually in some of the films today. Rather dark but beautiful in other places. Touching when he meets his beloved dog from childhood. (Who says dogs don't have souls?)

I have always imagined that one would have the freedom to be where they wanted to be and create whatever environment they wished. Even though this film suggested that it also sounded as though one had to work very hard to make things right they had done in this world. Made sense, (but made me tired to think of it.) I'll probably have to rest a hundred years or so before I can make much progress in the here after.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with my friend Susan just before her death. She knew she was terminal and we frequently discussed what might come for her. She said since all is energy she thought of it as a big river where energy went in and energy went out with the birth of new babies.

A few weeks after her demise I was in a deep sleep, not dreaming but in my mind I heard the message,"There is a river" It gave me such a jolt I came fully awake. At first I thought this meant I should read the book by that name once more. It had been many years since I read it and was int"rigued. Later I though "No, this has to do with Susan. Where ever she might be I hope she has her energy, keen intellect and great talent as a horse photographer. I hope lots of beautiful horses are hanging around waiting to have their pictures taken.

Trek to Slide rock

I made it down the treacherous rocks and many steps to find a great rock like a bench ,where I could see my cute grand nieces having fun in the water.Sedona is always an adventure, amd bromgs back memories of happy visits and lots of hiking in it's gorgeous canyons. I was raised in red rock country so when I first moved to Arizona and would feel homesick I would always jump into my car and head to Sedona.

My niece Janice, her husband Steve, daughters Alyca and Anna have been visiting the past week and I wanted them to have fun in natures water park at Slide Rock. They loved it. We also had a picnic and of course stopped at the famous Fudge Factory. All in all they were properly impress. That place is a photographers dream so even the kids cell phones captured it's beauty.

They were here for a week, including their two Shelty dogs. They have been known to be very hyper in the past but seemed to have matured and were really polite. They would even step carefully aside if I met one in the hallway. They seemed to sense you have to be careful with old folks. Robert got his 'dog lovers' fix, so that was good. He was happy to tend the dogs if we went some place where they couldn't go.

I loved having them, but m,ust admit to getting very tired. They left just in time for me to leave for the Scrabble Club's 4th of july party . held at a lovely home in Carefree where we could end the day watching the fireworks from the patio. My games were less than perfect because my eyes were not doing well. In fact I was very dismayed and bummed that the red rocks of Sedona were not nearly as intense to my eyes. Looked like they had all been washed with a heavy rain fall of bleach. Sign. Well at least I could still see them and walk well down the rugged trail, so I guess I will just remember to be grateful.