Journal: Photo-Scanning, Vehicle Hiccups, & an Opossum

 

I spent several days last week scanning old photos, finishing an album and starting on the next one.  Here’s our Aerostar van crossing a rickety old wooden bridge by Bellwood Lakes.  (Yes, Larry stopped on the other side and waited for me to catch up and get back in.  😉 )  I have now scanned 21,800 photos.

Last Monday when Larry was at Loren’s house, Loren showed him his wallet, all worried because there were only $3 in it.  “That’s not much money!” said Loren.

Larry agreed, “That’s not much, in this day and age,” and added, “Looks like you need to get some cash at the bank!”

Loren had evidently forgotten how to do that; he used to do it every couple of weeks or so.  Maybe he’d even forgotten where the bank was?  We figured I would have to start doing that for Loren.  I don’t like doing things like that, much.  I have Power of Attorney, so I can, legally; but I never want there to be a question about how I’m handling Loren’s money and what I’m doing with it.

But whataya know, Loren went to his bank Tuesday morning and got himself a bit of cash.  I was glad to discover he had done that, via Vyncs and the bank’s website (and he even remembered to tell me about it later).  I’m thankful for these little things as long as they continue.

Keith and Korrine’s 3^rd anniversary was Wednesday.  Korrine just tested positive for Covid-19 Monday, and Keith tested positive on Wednesday.  They haven’t gotten too awfully sick with it, fortunately.  Both have aches, chills, headache, cough, and sometimes a runny nose.  Korrine has lost her sense of smell and can taste only certain things along the sides of her tongue.

Joseph and Jocelyn’s 11^th anniversary was Sunday.  Teddy and Amy’s 19^th anniversary and Caleb and Maria’s 8^th anniversary were on the 13^th.  Todd and Dorcas’s 7^th anniversary was on the 18^th.

We sent Todd and Dorcas and Joseph and Jocelyn gift certificates to Cracker Barrel.  For Keith and Korrine, I had a nursery called The Petal Pusher in their hometown of Layton, Utah, give them a gift certificate.  I spelled both of their names for the gift card, and the lady repeated them back to me.  Remember that...

We gave Caleb and Maria a dehumidifier for the six-foot crawl space under their house, as theirs went kaput, and their house has a bit of a musty smell if they don’t keep a dehumidifier running.  We gave Teddy and Amy $$$$.

I paid some bills and ordered some groceries.  In looking for jelly, I found Gator Jam (ginger, apple, tangerine, orange, elderberry) and Frog Jam (fig, raspberry, orange, ginger).

Gotta try some of that stuff!  Did you know that a group of alligators is called a congregation?  😄  A group of frogs is called an army.

I finished scanning the photo album with the pictures of Victoria as a wee baby, and started on one with pictures taken at Henry Doorly Zoo.

 Loren was okay that day when I took him a meal.  A little mixed up, but okay.  It seemed like he thought he was still selling for NFIB, as he said he didn’t know for sure if he’d be home the next day – “We might be heading out,” he said, pointing northwest.  So be sure and call first before you come.”  He and Janice used to take their camper and stay in parks to our northwest when he was working for the NFIB. 

I saw by the Vyncs tracer and SpotTrace that he went to church Tuesday evening.  That large clock on his table displaying day, date, time, and morning, afternoon, or evening, does him no good, if he can’t think to look at it!  Part of the problem is that he sometimes piles things in front of it, making it difficult to see.  I unearth it, when I find it thus.

He went straight back home again after discovering there was no church meeting.  As Larry says, “Oh, well; it gives him something to do (getting his suit on, driving to town and then back home again) instead of looking for ‘Norma’.”  😏 

I wonder if he thinks I told him wrong, or if he then remembers I told him right, or if none of the above occurs to him at all?

I sent this picture to Hester, writing, “Here you are at the zoo.”

She responded, “😊Keira liked that picture but wants to know where the animals are hiding.  There’s definitely a bird or something on my head. 🦃😆😆”

So of course I immediately sent a bunch of pictures of animals at the zoo, writing, “Tell Keira, here are the animals!  Love, Grandma”

Here are a couple of them:

Soon Hester wrote back:  “Keira really liked all the animals!   Now she’s ready to go to the zoo.  😆”

I want to go to the zoo, too!  But Larry is uninterested.  Maybe if they let him ride a scooter...  😉

Larry got the rest of the shower curtain rods put up around the tub that evening, and then we went to Wal-Mart to get a shower curtain – and it didn’t occur to either of us that we needed two curtains, because the shower curtain has to go all around the inside of the tub, front and back.

We also forgot to get milk and eggs, so we headed into town instead of onto the bypass, planning to stop at Hy-Vee.  However, Larry turned into Columbus Motors just before we got to Hy-Vee in order to drool over the new Jeeps.  And then of course we forgot the milk and eggs.

Wasn’t it just last week that I suggested that forgetfulness is contagious?!

Here’s Lydia at about age 7, drying her hair in the sun.  

Below are Hannah and Dorcas at the zoo.

Wednesday, Keith thanked me for the gift card from The Petal Pusher – and sent me a picture of the card.  It reads, “Pete and Korrine”.  Pete!  I’m telling you, I did spell the names!  Even Keith’s.  And the lady spelled it back to me.

Kenzie, Korrine’s youngest daughter, is now calling Keith ‘Pete’.  🤣

Keith said they were still doing all right, although he asked, “Why can’t orange-flavored Zicam taste good all the way through!!???”

“I know!” I agreed.  “After the first bit of citrus flavor, you’re down to the gasoline!”  😜

Thursday, Victoria wrote to say that their house loan has been approved.  There’s one more step, and then they’ll be pretty close to a done deal.

When I took Loren some supper that afternoon, the Jeep was misbehaving quite badly, roaring and missing and knocking and sounding terrible.  Also, the steering wheel shakes at high speeds, and the brakes aren’t so great.  I think I’ll park that thing until it’s in better shape.

Friday, after requesting and receiving the grandchildren’s sizes, I spent some time looking for Christmas gifts online.  How about this:  Aaron, who’s 20 now wears the same size shirt as Larry!

I started the hunt for a shirt or sweater for Aaron on eBay.  I typed in “Men’s XL” – and eBay offered me 13,950,998 selections.  Okay, let’s pare that down.  I checked ‘Buy It Now’, ‘U.S. Only’, ‘New with Tags’, and plugged in a price range.

There we go; I’d shaved it down to 2,898,289.  Much more manageable.  Theoretically.

I clicked ‘Lowest Priced Items First’, and then began looking for ‘nice but affordable’.  And there it was, just the ticket:  an Eddie Bauer fleece sweater in heather green.  The listing even had a ‘Make an Offer’ button.  I made the offer... the offer was accepted... and I saved $3 on an already-good price.

I proceeded on down the list.

Here are Teddy and Joseph at the zoo.

Soon it was time to call Loren, and then to make him some supper.  I drove the BMW to his house.  It worked fine, but I very much dislike driving a vehicle I fear will let me down at any moment.

Loren’s meal that day was deer burger meat loaf made with crackers and eggs, French-cut green beans, blueberry streusel muffins, peaches, prunes, V8 cocktail juice, and ice cream. 

A while back, Loren thanked me for the food, saying, “You’ve never brought anything that I haven’t liked; it’s always very good.”

And that right there was one of those occasions where I follow Psychology Today:  “Never argue with a dementia patient” (never mind how fictitious it was). 

Keith asked, “Does he eat everything you take him?”

“Seems like it, most of the time,” I replied.  “Every now and then, though, I find an ancient piece of Whatzit in his refrigerator.  Once I asked him, ‘Are you conducting a science experiment in here?’  He laughed – but I can’t tease too much, or he gets all worried because he wasted something.”

Here’s Keith at the zoo, and below are Joseph, Hester, and Teddy.  These pictures were taken May 29, 1995.

Here is Caleb in his room.

  

Home again, I returned to the CCH (Christmas Clothes Hunt) on eBay.  One year, I got all the clothes – and some other gifts, too – at Sears.  The next year, it was J. C. Penney’s.  The year after that, Wal-Mart.  These days, I do most of the Christmas shopping online; but sometimes I like hunting for gifts at brick-and-mortar stores, too.

By the time I closed my laptop that night, I had all the clothes ordered for the grandchildren.  But kids need more than clothes, don’t they?

“Indeed they do,” answered a friend to whom I posed this question.  “Clothes for Christmas signifies the child was dangerously close to the naughty line.”  😂

Our children were always delighted with Christmas pajamas and nightgowns from their Grandpa and Grandma Swiney... sweaters and vests and skirts and pants from their Uncle John H. and Aunt Lura Kay, and from their Uncle Loren and Aunt Janice... and outfits from Grandpa and Grandma Jackson (handsewn by Grandma)...  but I won’t forget the stories my father told of receiving socks and underwear for Christmas from his parents while his siblings received toys.  They got their clothes as they needed them throughout the year.  How could parents be unfair like that with one child??  To her credit, my Grandma Swiney apologized to Daddy for that, years later. 

The grandparents, aunts, and uncles gave our children toys, too.  I try to do the same (clothes and toys, both)... but it’s no easy task, with this many kids to buy stuff for.  When they get past, oh, say, 14 or 15, I sometimes give them clothes and a big, nice book or some such thing.  In addition to Aaron’s Eddie Bauer fleece sweater; and the pair of jeans I got for Ethan, who’s 16, we’ll also give each boy one of those fancy-schmancy pocketknives we got at the Nebraska State Fair.

I remember feeling really grown up when members of my family gave me clothes for Christmas (although one of them seemed to never have the foggiest notion what sorts of styles I liked, even after I got old enough to pick out or sew my own things).

 As for the toys, for three of the little girls I got ‘sleeping kitties’ that ‘breathe’ when a spot on their sides is pressed.

Last year I bought the grandkids a whole lot of games.  So this year, I’ll look for vehicles, Lego sets, balls, frisbees, magnet sets, flashlights, books...  And maybe I’ll get each family something from Schwan’s.

Loren went to the church that night, even though he asked me as I was leaving his house that afternoon if there was a meeting, and I said no.  After thinking about it for a moment, he nodded (a bit hesitantly) and said, “That’s right; we don’t have meetings on Friday.” 

That understanding evidently vanished in the next couple of hours.

Here’s Joseph in a suit I made him for Easter.  It was April 7, 1996.  The suit had elbow patches that matched the collar, which was all the rage back then, and it was made of raw linen.  Pretty snazzy!  😃 

Saturday, I got back to scanning photos, even though I hadn’t gotten all the toys ordered for the grandchildren.  I could certainly get this done a lot easier if money was no issue!  😏

I threatened one of the kids with nothing but bookmarks made out of the sides of cereal boxes, but he just laughed at me.

Larry sold a skid loader that day to someone in McCook, down in the southwest corner of our state, 216 miles away.  He delivered it for an extra $250 – didn’t get home until 2:45 a.m.  He did stop and take a nap somewhere.  Oh, and he stopped in our garage on his way into the house and put the air condenser, etc., back on the Jeep so he’d be able to pull it the rest of the way into the garage, as it was about to rain.  Thunder was rolling and lightning was flashing. 

I was still awake when he got home, though I’d gone to bed some time after 1:00 a.m. 

The last time I looked at the clock, it was about 4:00 a.m.  My alarm went off at 6:50 a.m.  Ugh.

After church, Victoria gave us chicken, carrots, and a baked potato for Loren.  We took it to him, along with Tropicana orange juice and yogurt with granola; then we went back to Kurt and Victoria’s house and ate dinner with them.

We played with Eva after church last night.  She tries hard to imitate things I say to her.  She likes the little pictures I give her, which I cut from the back of calendars.  I showed her how to flip-flap them together, making a flapping noise, and she promptly waved one picture and said “Fap-fap-fap!”  She’s walking now, but carefully, and when she’s in a hurry and really wants to get somewhere fast, down she goes to hands and knees.

We found this little opossum on the back deck railing when we got home from church.  He’s having a feast on black-oil sunflower seeds.

I drove the BMW to Loren’s house again today.  That’s three times to Loren’s house, plus twice to church yesterday, and, amazingly enough, it hasn’t gone into limp mode once.  It will the very next time I drive it, of course.  I’ll get stranded somewhere; just you watch.

Now let’s see how many pictures I can scan before bedtime!

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn           ,,,>^..^<,,,