Love our days together.

Yesterday Mark had off from work and we had an enjoyable day together. First I had some laundry to do to finish off the week of never ending laundry. Then we went to Pizza Hut and had a nice, no rush lunch where we could sit and chat the whole time. After a brief nap for Mark and a quick trip to get the laundry off of the clothes lines, we headed to the pool. Supper was grilled burgers, dishes and then a trip to put gas in the truck.  I nice quiet evening of watching a couple tv programs together finishes off the very nice day.

The water in the pool wasn't as warm as it was the yesterday but it felt great just the same. In fact with the little less warm water the air didn't feel as cool when you were wet. We got our exercises done and spent more than our usual hour in the water. After not being able to use the pool for several weeks it felt good to be back. Boy could my muscles tell I hadn't used them in that manner for awhile. Today Mark works again so I'll go alone. It's not near as much fun without Mark there and harder for me to get motivated to go too.

Yeehaaaa, no laundry to do today. But that doesn't mean I have nothing to do today. With the doors and windows open on the nice days that we have had has also added quite a layer of dirt to everything. So it's Saturday cleaning day. And with the rise in temperature later this afternoon, the windows and doors may be closed and the a/c turned on until evening. Some time today I need to make a short grocery run to WM too. I'm not looking forward to dealing with the crowds of people shopping, pushing and shoving. But I can't run out of bread or milk and a few other necessities.  Another boring day, but I like days like this too. It can't all be fun and games, life gets in the way.

Happy happy.

Ok, I know this is going to come as a shock to all, but I am doing the happy dance because the heater in the pool is back on!!! That means I can get back to my pool exercising.  I know that me being happy about going back in the water is a major surprise. But I don't like walking alone, and using exercise machines is just too boring and I don't like to sweat! I do enough of that just living in Arizona, why make it worse. In the pool I can work up a sweat and not even know it or I can just squat down deeper in the water to cool off. 😎 Nope, I never go under water. Remember, I don't like water in my face or my ears.

The morning temperatures are too cool, 60's for me to go to the pool in the morning so my afternoon will now be exercise pool time. Maybe my fading tan will renew and my muscles will regain their strength. As much as I fought Mark on getting me into the pool I am enjoying the benefits of the pool now.

Yesterday was a really bad day for me. I wanted to talk to my mom, I know she can't always talk back, and I know she is on her deathbed, but I know she can at least hear me. Her husband told me to go to his facebook page, instead of calling him, for any updates.  Talk about a sock in the gut. I knew he hated me but this is just down right cruel and mean. Thankfully my brother Mike will call me when he goes to see her and my cousin Patty will inform me of any updates on the said facebook page.  God Bless them both. My dear son, I love your caring but leave this alone. It's already been dealt with. I'm at peace with the whole situation.   Mom is all he has and once she is in her heavenly home, he will be all alone again. So sad.

Today is a new day and it's laundry day. That is pretty much what every day has been for me so far this week. I've been trying to get all the blankets and such done before the snowbirds come and the laundry room and clotheslines are so busy. By Saturday I should be caught up  with the laundry. My goodness my days are so mundane. hehehehe But I'm happy with my life.

All good things

We have been enjoying the wonderfully cooler weather this week. But it looks like Friday we will be on the rise to the low 90's for the daytime highs for another several weeks.  The night time temps will still be in the 60's. Around the second week of November it looks to be the temps will be back to the more pleasant temps of the 70's during the day. I've enjoyed wearing long pants and having the doors and windows open. Last night we even put a quilt on the bed. This morning when I got up it was 61º outside and 74º inside. Good sleeping weather. 😃

Along with the more desirable temps comes great days for drying blankets, curtains and bedspreads on the lines. Just like I did in the springtime in MN. Mark washed the outside down with the garden hose and I washed the windows that aren't covered with sunscreens. The porch is all organized for sitting pleasure. Lola has kind of forgotten that she can go in and out as she pleases or she would just rather stay inside. Silly dog.

Mark is working hard to save up money for our trips back to MN. One is for our sons wedding this spring and God only knows when the other trip will be.  Mark has always been a hard worker, good provider and loving husband. And even in his retirement he sees to it that we have what we need.

Soon our friends and family back home will be going off of daylight saving time. The two hour time difference makes it hard to stay in direct contact with family and friends. One hour will make a big difference on when to chat and call. Arizona has no daylight saving time. Why would the sunniest place on earth want more sunshine to heat up the day? Once the sun goes down now the temp really drops and the sun is setting much earlier every day. By 6:30 now it's dark! Being dark early means I have to walk Lola in the dark for her evening jaunt. But I have a flashlight, gun, and phone. Soon all our neighbors will be back and this place will be jumping which will make the walk more relaxed. By 10 they do respectfully quiet down in this park.

Off to get my morning chores done. Have a wonderful Wednesday. God bless
y'all.🙏

Brisk morning

Woke up to  a brisk 61º, sunny skies and a light breeze. The nights have really cooled down and so far the days are staying in the low 80's. I know that it's fall so the highs will fluctuate higher and lower before settling down in the mid to upper 70's for the winter.

Rumor has it that the heater in the pool is being worked on and will turned on shortly. We really do miss our morning exercise time. But even with the heater being on, my time in the pool will be afternoon when the air temp is warmer than the morning temps.

In church yesterday the pastor turned the message over to the youth director and music tech. Wow, what an amazing job he did. The young man is very intelligent, well versed in his bible and can really deliver an amazing message from God. His attitude and love for God was so infectious that one could not leave without a powerful impact from his message. Way to go Nathon.

After church we went out for dinner like we used to do before Mark got a job at Walmart. It was so nice to go out just the two of us for a nice Sunday dinner. Thank you honey. The rest of the day we just sat and enjoyed the quiet of the park. The quiet days in the park will become a thing of the past in about a month. We are slowly getting more snowbirds back into the park.

Rain

This morning I woke up to a nice slow soaking rain. That makes for good sleeping in too. I didn't crawl out of bed until almost 8 this morning. The pain pill last night helped too. There is laundry to do today and I was really hoping to use the clothes lines. Oh well, maybe it will be nicer this afternoon.

After putting off having a massage for over two years I was way overdue,  so yesterday I went in for a much needed massage. I carry every stress, concern and worry across my shoulders and arms. For quite some time I've been having painful muscle issues.The therapist said my muscles were so tight she was amazed that I could function. I told her that my functions were limited. hehe Being a bit tender from the deep muscle massage I took a pain pill before bed. It helped so I got a better night's sleep. My neck doesn't grind as much when I turn my head now and I don't get the shooting pain when I lie down in bed as badly. Because the muscles were so tight it will take another treatment to get them to almost normal. The therapist was very caring and attentive to any discomfort as she worked. I won't put off going in for a massage now.

Mark has a few days off from work so he is enjoying his free time. But there are a few home repairs that will need his attention when it stops raining and dries off. At least he won't get bored. hehehe This afternoon we will need to go and get the things that he needs to get the jobs done. Listening to the rain, the chores may have to wait another day to get done. But we will have the supplies needed for when it stops.

Winter readiness in AZ.

Here in AZ winter readiness is like springtime in MN. We clean off the patio or porch, rake up the leaves that are still on the ground, take off the foil insulation on the windows and put flowers outside. And that is what was done yesterday afternoon. We once again have sunshine coming in all windows, well except for the bedroom window. That window may stay covered, it sleeps better without the rising sun streaming through way too early in the morning. With the sunshades on the windows we don't get all that much air flow but it does keep the dirt from entering so much too.  We just put fans in the doors when we need air movement. The days are so nice in the winter and the nights can drop into the chilly upper 30's. Some days we go through three different sets of attire. hehehe

It's so nice waking up and opening the doors and windows to the fresh cool morning air. Maybe tonight, if the house cools down enough by bedtime,  we will leave all the windows open. I'm not comfortable leaving the doors open unless I am home and awake. Lola may be a smaller type dog but she had become very protective and offers great protection. Not to mention other means of security that we have. But why ask for trouble.

There is a downside to having all the doors and windows open. On windy days such as yesterday some of the desert comes in and lands on everything. So fall and winter I do a lot more cleaning. But to not have snow and nose freezing weather, I'll take the extra chore of cleaning.  So may ask us, how can you stand the heat of the summer? Well we handle it the same way we handled winter, we stay inside most of the time.

The snowbirds are coming in faster and seem just as rude as last year. I do believe the nicest snowbirds are our neighbors. Mark said you can easily tell the snowbirds from the AZ residents by their rudeness. Retail loves the increased sales but hates the attitude that comes with some of the visitors. So when you visit another state, or anywhere for that matter, show off the good side of yourself and leave the attitude in the suitcase. We are all the same, money does not make you superior to anyone.

As some of you may know, my mom is not doing well. Jesus is making a place for her that is just perfect. A place where she will not have anymore pain, grief or stress, just the peace of being with our Lord savior.  Being so far from MN, makes it difficult for us to make decisions of what and how to do things. We are almost 2000 miles from MN. To fly back and forth is out of the question, we live on a limited income and flights and car rentals and dog kennels are not cheap by any means. Some people are treating us with utmost understanding and some are quite mean. But until you walk in our shoes you have no right to be judgemental. Our hearts are breaking and this is no time to cause us more pain. But as God forgives us I will forgive you.

Feeling better

I am definitely liking the changes happening her in the Sonoran Desert temps have a way of changing almost over night. As you know most of the summer I have been showering off after each morning in the pool in cold water. Now do not go burrr. The cold water here is almost too hot to shower off in during the summer. Well within just a week or so I have been having to add a hot warm water mixed in with the cold to find a happy medium.

The temps which were in what Yuman's call the single digits 101 to 109 deg. during the day have now dropped into the high to mid 80’s during the day and down into the high 70’s at night. Trust me with a breeze It feels cool.

Also I finally got the Cortisone shots in my hands taken care of and am ecstatic with the results so far. My left hand which had become almost useless as I could not grip anything with it over night has an almost 80% improvement. The right hand I now have at least partial mobility of the thumb and believe another shot will resolve that as well.

I have to say that you living in Minnesota can Thank God you have a state that Values Health Care. Do not take that for granted for at least here in Yuma that can not be said!

The outcome of both my procrastinating and going thru the waiting room boredom, I have seen more writing on bathroom walls than literature to read in these waiting rooms. But the biggest outcome from this is No More Pain. My hands have hurt so bad at night and finally all the time that I have not been able to sleep even wearing the compression gloves was only offering minimal relief.

Now I have over years gotten up during the night not sleeping much more than about 3 to 3 ½ hours at a time. But living thru the pain was waking me up after just an 1 ½ hours. Yep I can truly say it sucked to be me……..lol

You might ask yourself why the hell did he not go to the doctor sooner as you knew there was something wrong?

Well it was something I knew leading up to what they found when I did my health card this year for my CDL license. I have Type 2 diabetes and when I originally asked the Doctor about my hands he said that may well be a side effect from the diabetes. Of course he also to me I might die and should have passed out, so I guess his opinion is only worth the $75 dollars I paid him.

Now the true assessment brought on by my diabetes condition and quite possibly all the Gravy I have slurped down even to the point of adding it to pizza over the years is that I have quite possibly lost the feeling in my left heel and my right ring finger forever. Although I have a goal of losing more weight which may change that outcome as well.

Speaking of weight I am very proud to say I have stayed under the 200 lb mark for a week now and am feeling pretty good about it. That is 25 to 27 pounds off my starting point and I feel puts my goal of the 180’s in site. Notice the ‘s in 180’s? That means 189 pounds counts…..lol

I wish to give a Big Thank You to my loving bride Cindy for keeping my feeding habits, to what I feel our bare minimum for survival, in check.

To Caravan Oasis for the Pool we have virtually all to ourselves to do an hour plus long workout in, almost each morning.

And get this “Walmart” for giving me a 32 hour a week job in produce that makes me attempt to keep up with kids half or less my age and walk 5+ to 7 miles a day. Yep if it wasn’t for the fact I still part my hair down the center you might not recognize me if you walked by.

So in closing I also want to thank all of my friends for their words of care and encouragement. And to let people know, now that it has passed, 120 deg. is dam hot but we made it thru and now have 6 months to beautiful weather to look forward to. How about you………...lol?

Stay Cool my friends and if your ever are passing by Yuma drop by! Our door (at least in the winter) is always open!

Mark

More to come

This morning we hustled our butts to get to the store before anymore bad weather left us without milk and bread. Heaven forbid the Bentons run out of milk!!! We had a dry run so we even stopped for breakfast🍳 at our favorite place, The Foothills Eatery. A short ride🚗 looking around was a nice bonus before heading home. There was even time before the rain for Mark to get the water softened. PTL!!

It wasn't long and the rain started, but at a lesser degree than yesterday. Back in MN we would call this a million dollar rain. Just a nice slow soaking rain all afternoon. Now, after catching the weather report, we have learned that the worst is yet to come. Hurricane Rosa is really going to make an impact on our weather. The moisture is much needed to ease the 18 year drought, but when the rain comes with such turbulence, it causes a lot of damage, which no one wants. Many businesses, schools, homes and shelters felt the wrath of yesterday's storm.  They were left some major damage. I pray that they will not any major issues again.

The challenge that we have tonight is dodging the rain to get Lola out to do her duty! She, like most people, doesn't really like walking in the rain. WM, as well as other places were all sold out of umbrella's. Imagine that, needing an umbrella🌂 in the desert. Yes, we do get rain,☔ not often but it does rain. Well neither of us will melt. If that were the case, I would stand in the rain until I got the remainder 20 pounds off. 😮