Quick Trip

I flew to Disneyland on Wednesday to join Ed and Erin's family. All I can say is the older I get the more I dislike spending long hours in a car. I retain too much fluid. Flying from now on!

But we contacted Grampa Hanson, and he drove over to join us. He wasn't enthusiastic about the Disneyland trip since he felt he'd already seen everything there many times, but we were at California Adventure on Wednesday. None of which he'd seen.

The gang out front.

My new camera does panoramic views

And we weren't even up north visiting the Redwoods!

 

Don't you love that blue background?



Lucy meets Grampa



Madelyn and Aidan sharing a chocolate shake. And contrary to what Paul suggested, Aidan's not snorting it.



This is what Lucy thinks of chocolate shakes.

Taking a break while the others do Tower of Terror. Notice that I'm taking the picture, meaning that I'm NOT on ToT.

Taking a break at A Bugs Life. The show "It's Tough Being a Bug" is one of my favorites. Quite the jumping experience.

The Ferris Wheel is so much more fun than the ones they had when I was a kid.

Waiting for the show to start.

We stayed for something called World of Color, which is an amazing water, laser lights, fire show over the little lake. They included videos excerpts from several Disney movies, broadcast ON the water. Makes me want to sit down and watch those movies again.

We went to Disneyland on Thursday, which was decorated for Halloween.

Sienna and Pumpkin Mickey

One of Erin's dear friends from Spanish Fork met them at Disneyland, so they could see her. That's awesome to have friends like that.

We had to do Autopia.

Papa and Aidan

Spencer and Madelyn

Sienna's convinced she's going to be a terrible driver. I told her not to just based upon this experience.

And the Jungle Cruise.

And Tarzan. It's fun what they've done to update this old Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. There's a treehouse in WIP #1.

And the Tiki Room! This was my mother's favorite attraction.

I especially love the Haunted Mansion's transformation into Nightmare Before Christmas

We took Mad to see It's a Small World because the line was too long for the Materhorn. When we came out the parade had started. She loved the princesses ... but not the streetlight position. Go figure. She loves the Matershorn but was scared to stand on the the streetlight post.

Papa and Mad heading home with Main Street in the background.

I'm already going through withdrawals from hugging and kissing the kids. *sigh* Now I have to wait until January.

At this rate David's kids will be adults before we get to see them again. They're loving it in China.

Before we left, Ed got a chance to see Robert's little guy, David.

He's getting so big, too!

Disneyland

As I write this Ed is driving through Auburn, California on his way to Disneyland via Fresno, where he'll drop off some equipment and see Richard and Carolynn. I have to do the election Canvass prep work for the meeting on the 20th, so I won't be flying out until early on the 21st.

We're going to Disneyland because Erin and her family are going there on the way home from a work conference for Spencer in Texas where they've had a chance to see some of Spencer's family. This must be a really nice break for Spence, since he hasn't been off the islands in over two years.

I can't wait to see everyone. I just wish Ed had flown, so we didn't have to make that long drive. My back hates sitting in a car for a long time now, especially certain seats (like he has). Even in my Avalon's lumbar seat I can only take riding in it for so long. And 11 hours is a long time.

Grrrr

I don't know what to do. I don't know what I can or should do. Ed was supposed have been able to retire on his birthday in July. Unfortunately, all he planned for was Social Security, so it's not a lot. And when do you get your first paycheck from them? Two freakin' months after you've "retired"!

The poor guy has suffered with Fibromyalgia (a condition that intensifies the pain you feel and adds more to it) for more than twenty years. Now he's got TWO kinds of arthritis on top of it. He's been working hard trying to complete projects he committed to earlier, but he's in so much pain he's just slowing down. He had to take four Lortab yesterday on top of 3200 mg of Ibuprophen just to function.

I wish people would just stop asking him to help. He loves to help, and he can't say "no". When I tell him he just needs to explain his situation to them, that if they really are his friends and they care about him, they'll understand and be more than happy to ask someone else to help. But somehow when I suggest this I become the bad guy!

I'm so upset at this moment I want to either cry or hit something.

/endrant

Last Hurrah

My dear friend Arlene and her hubby are building a home in a distant town and will be moving in the next few months. She and I have been through a lot together, including two ward talent shows where we performed our MiniMe show. We were asked to do it for an activity last night, and we broadened it to include two Minis.

Good Bye Nalla

*sigh*

Our cute little dog Nalla died last night. Ed and I had already gone to bed, and I could hear Adam calling the dog (she slept in his room). She always found ways to sneak out of the backyard because she was a social little doggy and liked to visit the neighbors. Nalla was also 13 1/2 and was going blind and deaf. She didn't always respond quickly when called because she couldn't always hear you.

Not long after I heard Adam calling, he knocked on our door to tell us she was dead out in the street. We ran out to her. We're not sure if she was hit by a car, but she didn't appear to have any damage. There's a good chance she just had a heart attack or stroke. We got a bag and Ed put her in it. We were talking about burying her, and Ed even told Adam to get a shovel, but then Ed put the bag in the trash. That seemed so disrespectful, but then I thought, "What if she wasn't really dead?" What if we buried her alive? She appeared dead. No heartbeat or breathing. But that kind of thing happens to people who turn out to be alive. At least if she was just in a deep coma and woke up in the trash can, we'd know.

I guess Adam posted something on Facebook, and Erin read it and called. She was quite upset, especially about the trash thing. I didn't know how to explain. I think she may have said something to Adam (I haven't had the heart to check Facebook yet), or he decided on his own, but he went out about 2 a.m. and dug her a grave. I talked with him after, and he confirmed that rigor mortis had set in. She was definitely dead.

So our garden now has two bodies in it.

*sniff*

I told Paul this morning, and he was shocked. He said her last meal had been a good one. He and Adam had cooked steak and potatoes, and they'd shared some with her.

Another Birthday

Ed turns 62 today. Rumor has it he's retiring. But Social Security won't show up in his bank account for another two months. He's just finishing up project he hasn't finished up, and he's (also a rumor) not taking on anymore work.

This date made me think about the following. I wish I could find out who wrote it as it's so true. For me anyway.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. 

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s & 70s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore.

 I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).



Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

Marcel the Shell

I saw this and had to share. I'm a fangirl!