4-5-25 Double the Trouble...
Retired Life. Sunday.
Happy Sabbath! Here, have a Jesus Picture.
Sacrament Meeting. And then that was it. We got a call from the Assisted Living Center that Hanna's mom was not doing well, so we hurried back to Fairfield to see her. She indeed was struggling and a visit was a good thing.
I included some pictures of our dogs just because.
During the movie, an entire box of Kleenex somehow got destroyed. I found the box itself, ripped apart, out on the deck. Neither dog would rat the other out, a sign of true friendship.
And this is a sign of being old people. This travesty happened right at our feet, but we were so enthralled in the movie, we didn't even notice it go down...
Retired Life. Monday.
Funnest (or funniest?) conversation of the day, when I called my auto repair shop.
Me: My name is Stewart "hyphen" Longhurst.
Mechanic, after a long wait: "How do you spell hyphen?
Me: I drive a Gladiator.
Mechanic: ummm. What is that? An ATV? Snowmobile?
Me: It's a Jeep truck.
Mechanic looks confused.
He's a very nice kid. Probably knows how to fix things. But maybe shouldn't be allowed out front.
So, one of those things that happens when you retire is someone takes your place. You get to watch someone else do your job or, in my case, watch someone else try to run your business. It can be painful. We learned last week that the firm that bought us out is closing the Spokane Office and fired top producer, our daughter Ella. This is the perfect example of "running a business into the ground." Both Hanna and I started our businesses on our kitchen tables, merging them shortly after we merged our lives. The business was like one of our kids. We built a legendary firm. Now it's all gone with clients and employees scrambling to figure out what is next. Very sad. Ella will land on her feet. It's what she does. She is putting together her own business and soon will be offering bookkeeping and tax services herself. Stay tuned. No doubt you'll hear my touting her business here on FB once she gets it up and running.
Retired folks must have some adventure. Today was that day. We have never visited our beloved Highlands property during the month of March. So, we decided to try to make it up there. The pictures tell the story.
- Grilled Pork Chops and eggs for breakfast.
- The dogs waiting patiently (and cutely) for us to leave on the trip.
- Hanna went to visit her Mom and I turned my head for just a few minutes and this happened. I still have no idea what it was before they ripped it apart. And it appears to have been a team effort. They are bonding quite well.
- Snuggling in the back seat on the way up to the Highlands.
- Oh no! A tree across the road. No problem. Be prepared, right? I pulled out my handy electric chain saw and my tow chain and made quick work of the blocked road.
- And 1.5 miles to go, we ran into wet, thick, deep snow in the part of the road that doesn't get sun. I could back up and come forward building speed and ram it, but would only get about 10 feet of progress each time before it lost traction or bogged down. Our trek ended here.
- And even the way back home was an adventure. These horses tried to block us in.
All in a day's work. Errr. I mean retirement.
Retired Life. Tuesday.
We're too old to prank folks, so no pranks to report. Some of you all did pretty well at that today though! Like my nephew who announced he was leaving his mission to become a professional soccer player. Or my very conservative friend who announced he had bought a Prius and gave up meat. Or the fake announcement that our church had partnered with Chick-fil-A to serve their grub in all the temples. (Great idea though! No doubt it would help attendance...)
We were up a bit earlier this morning so I could run Gus into the vet. He got a check up (clean bill of health), chipped, and had his shots boosted. He weighs 84 pounds! BIG boy! Just like Frivvy, he found the Vet's to be a very exciting place because there were a lot of people to give him attention.
On the way home, we washed the truck (it was covered in mud after yesterday's attempt to get to the Highland's) and bought 3 gallons of expensive, over-taxed Washington gas, just enough to get us to Idaho.
At home, it was the typical Tuesday from then on out. We planned our busy week, created yummy menus, prepared a shopping list, drove to Gateway Cafe in Plummer and played Rummy and ate salads, took "the boys" for a walk on the Trail of the CDA, gassed up with cheaper Idaho gas, bought the groceries, drove back home, unloaded, unpacked.
Then I read a bit and we watched a couple of shows. Seemed like a busy day, but not as busy as April 1st usually was in our tax office.
Pics:
-Gus at the Vet's Office, tons of things to smell there.
-The boys on our walk.
-Hanna taking the shopping very seriously. We must go down the aisles in order! (Very similar to debits must equal credits...)
-The boys, now best friends and buddies, working together to protect our yard from birds.
Retired Life. Wednesday.
We try to worship in the temple every week. But, the Spokane Temple is closed for two weeks for maintenance. That means ROAD TRIP!! to the next nearest temple, Moses Lake. Today was that day.
After the services, we went to Bob's Cafe for some Steak Salads. Getting to Moses Lake and back and worshipping pretty much took up the entire day. Good thing we are retired so we have time to have days like this.
Retired Life. Thursday.
Today I mostly wore my "Caretaker and Chauffeur" hats. (aka, what would Hanna ever do without me??)
We started out by taking Hanna to her hair appointment. (Picture below. Be sure to comment how cute it is).
Up next was supposed to be Hanna's apparent infusion at the cancer clinic. But, it didn't happen. Hanna was diagnosed with a cold and sinus infection. So they ordered her some antibiotics (not the ones that made her sick last time though) and sent her home with no infusion and without permission to start her chemo drugs back up again. The drugs kill her immune system making her vulnerable to such things as pneumonia. Not good. We get to wait another week. (Again). Note here: Hanna has two restrictions (not counting her driving restrictions.) 1. Don't do anything to cause a fall. 2. Stay away from sick people. So, if you're sick, please be cautious around her. I may have to go back to herding people away from her, especially if they are hacking away or blowing their nose. Thanks.
After that, we drove to CDA to pick up some groceries we couldn't get in Plummer and to buy cheap Idaho gas. And then, instead of going home that scenic route via Idaho, we drove back into Spokane to pick up the antibiotics at the pharmacy. We spent lots of time driving today.
At the gas station, I noticed my hitch on the truck was packed with mud. That is clearly a sign of a true blue JEEP driver there guys.
Back at home, we watched a prerecorded football game. Pop-Tarts Bowl. Iowa State vs Miami. Great game.
I can't imagine fighting cancer and trying to do taxes both. Retirement when it happened was clearly a blessing.
Retired Life. Friday.
Seems like we haven't just stayed home for a day in a long, long time. Today was kind of that day. We did drive over to Rockford to do the "Old People Breakfast" at Harvest Moon. Great omelettes. And Rummy. After that, we just did chores around the house. I drained, cleaned, and refilled the hot tub. Changed out the furnace filter. Paid some bills. Included some reading and the boys and I did go for a walk. Very nice out. I wore shorts and a light T-shirt. Made up a batch of chicken sweet potato stew. Watched a couple of shows after dinner. Plus the neighbor guy came by and trimmed Frivvy's and Gus's nails. I hold them down. Hanna diverts them with congs of peanut butter, and the trimmer dude trims the nails. Easy peasy. 3 on 1. Frivvy hates having his nails trimmed. Gus tolerated it, kind of.
Pictures:
- My view while I was trying to read this morning.
- While trimming one dog's nails, the other was kept outside. Here is Gus wondering what we're doing to Frivvy...and he has no idea that he is next.
- Gus really likes Frivvy's Moose Paddle. He spends a lot of time trying to chew it. They share nicely mostly. They do wrestle over one of the squeaky balls that light up.
Retired Life. Saturday.
The main thing today was watching General Conference and a couple of great basketball games.
French Toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Watch Conference. Take dogs for a walk. Watch more conference. Watch basketball. Watch even more conference. Watch even more basketball.
My favorite part of conference, as usual, is the auditor's report. I used to picture myself up there giving that report. At one point in my life, I even considered getting a job with the church doing accounting and auditing. Unfortunately, I was underqualified. It required a Master's Degree and at least five years of International Accounting. That ain't me.
During lunch, the boys started fighting over who got to sprawl out at our feet. They both became tired and fell asleep instead of concluding the fighting. It made for a cute picture.
And a picture of one of their tug of wars. (Frivvy almost always wins. But Gus always comes back for more.)
Bonus. I came across a long lost friend from Bulnes Chile today and had a great catch up conversation with him on Messenger. Yes, in Spanish. Kind of. At least he said he understood what I was typing. I made some great eternal friends down there. Made me excited for the next mission. 16 more days!
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