Back to the Same Old August 11

Our retired life. Sunday.

The alarm went off way too early so we could make it to church on time. We were exhausted. But, we gawked at the below Jesus Picture, remembered why church makes us happy, and got up and going.

Sacrament Meeting. Men's Meeting. Ran back home and.....Justin brought Frivvy home to us! We were all so excited and happy! He bopped up and down, wagged like crazy, and finally howled and woofed!

After a good visit with Justin, which included the discussion of the feasibility of driving a Tesla in Alaska, we took the Sacrament to Hanna's Mom. And then we drove up to Elk. Del and Ella had a nice dinner ready for us, which was very nice since there is no food in this house.

Finally, while we didn't see much wildlife in Alaska, we did continue to see plenty at the Stewart Highlands. Here's an Elk. And then a deer. Cute how she peaks in to view to make sure the camera is working before making a full appearance. "Anybody there???"

Retired life. Monday.

It's good to be home and get back into the usual routine. No food in the house still, so we made this our grocery day. And we unpacked and arranged the house nicely.

Planned out the week. Made a menu. Created grocery shopping list. Drove to Worley and had lunch at Red Tail. (Delicious Cobb and Taco Salads.) Drove to Plummer. Bought cheap gas. Bought some touch up paint for the house at the Hardware Store. Bought the groceries. Drove home. Unpacked. Put away.

In the evening, we watched a prerecorded football game. LSU v Wisconsin bowl game. Great game even with a lot of players sitting it out.

Last night, I captured an alien visit to the Stewart Highlands. Pictures below:

1. An elk that wandered by. You can see what the place normally looks like.

2. Couple hours later, what appears to be like headlights or something. I believe I can see the outline of a circular craft with lights on it.

3. Camera is blinded by the lights as the spacecraft passes over.

4. Alien creature is found in bottom left corner of the picture just before daybreak.

Creepy, huh? Makes you want to go camp there..........

If it ain't an alien, then please explain to me what it is. Lights like that don't just appear on a mountainside. And that thing is NOT a human or a critter.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

This was a chill day. I have a long list of things that need to be done, but I didn't get to it. I got caught up on my reading, took a nice nap, wandered around the garden a bit admiring Hanna's vegetables and wondering why my tomatoes always get stem rot, put together some tripods for the sprinklers and responded to all the Email that came in while we were out of town.

In the evening, after a delicious meal of BBQed hamburgers and sausage dogs, we watched a couple of shows.

If stuff doesn't get done, no matter. We're retired. I'll get to it tomorrow. Maybe.

And, oh, yes, I admired the combine parade that went by our house. See pic below. This happens nearly daily this time of year. Fun to watch the harvest.

Our retired life. Wednesday.

The project list was long and seemingly futile. Almost like being at work. So, I took the list and by each item wrote an A by it if it needed to be done ASAP. A date by it if there was some weird exterior force imposing a deadline. And a W if it needed to be done whenever. Seeing there were a ton of Ws, I then took a nap.

Once awake, I pondered the As, then decided they still could wait too.

I spent most of the day at my computer entering transactions, making sure there is money in the bank, paying bills, and reconciling bank statements and medical bills. Just like as if I were at work. I kind of enjoy doing that.

Retired Life. Thursday.

Run to town day. Infusion day. So, our day started at the Cancer Clinic in Post Falls. In the parking lot, we saw this hot car and wondered if it belonged to Hanna's Doctor. If so, it's well deserved because he's doing a great job of extending her years.

The infusion took longer than usual because the initial blood tests came back wonky and off a bit. Seems her immune system is really weak right now. The cancer drugs kill cancer, but also wreak havoc on her immune system. After some pondering, they went ahead with the infusion with the admonition to stay away from sick people.

We worshipped in the temple next and had a great, spiritual, peaceful experience.

Picked up some stuff at the grocery store, including frozen pizza for tomorrow's date night. Hanna then went to an Activity Planning Meeting for the church women's group. I read. That's what today's trip was primarily about for me. Hanna getting an infusion. I read while I waited. Hanna at her meeting. I read while I waited. James Patterson is what I'm hooked on right now. Alex Cross series.

Then we went out for tacos.

Retired Life. Friday.

It's Old People Go to Breakfast Day! It's nice not to have to cook our own breakfast once a week. Today we dined at The Gateway.

It was cool enough out that Frivvy was able to come with us and afterwards, we hiked on the Trail of the CDAs.

Back home, I tormented him by pushing a box at him. He is petrified of boxes. But finally, he overcame his fear and grabbed the box away from me and ripped it to shreds. PSA from Frivvy: Don't run from your fears.

Worked on the project list today. Emptied, cleaned, refilled the hot tub. Ironed some shirts. Cleaned the kitchen. Put up a couple more sprinkler tripods. And started working on our next trip...a road trip to Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota for Hanna's annual cancer check up. Road tripping so Frivvy can come. And side trips to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments. It'll take two weeks. Pretty much determined that there is no place to stay and no churches to attend along the I-90 corridor between Billings and the S Dakota border. Decided to take the northern route through Bismark and Fargo.

Watched a movie and ate pizza for date night.

Retired Life. Saturday.

I fixed french toast for breakfast. Yum. spent the morning reading, playing basketball, taking Frivvy for his walk.

In the afternoon, we attended a baptism for one of our friends. Hanna spoke at the baptism and did very well.

Then Justin and the boys came over for a steak fry complete with Mac N Cheese and homemade Strawberry ice cream. The boys take turns choosing the menu each visit and we are happy to oblige and it's all fun.

Finally, see the Elk family that has taken over the Highlands.