Word Association Meme

This is my second go at this fun game... want to play along?? Today is the last day!!!

(Alice Audrey) will still count you in if you post something like this today.

1. Excitement (Alice Audrey)

2. Thrill (Hootin’ Anni)

3. Suspense (Hazel)

4. Murder (Thom – the first time)

5. Premeditated (PattiKen)

6. Intentions (Thom)

7. Plans (Quilly)

8. Of mice and men (Reba)

9. Cats & Dogs (Me)

10. Raining (Alice Audrey)

11. Ya.... here too. I'm ready for the sun to shine!! (Me again)

Here are the rules:

1. Anyone can play, whether they have been tagged or not.
2. Include the rules and logo in your post.
3. Copy out all the responses that were made before you.
4. Link to each of the people who responded before you.
5. Put in your response. Your response can be as little as a single word or as much as 100 words. It can be a word, a phrase, an image, a song, a video, a story, or a short rant.
6. Tag anyone you would like to challenge to play this game. You do not have to tag anyone.
7. You can do this any time you run across it, even if you were one of the previous responders.

This Date Last Year

Did you hear the joke about the woman who went to the store for weight loss supplement and never came back?? No?? That's good... it was a bad joke anyway.

Seriously though folks, today (as seems the norm with most days lately) was pouring rain. Earlier this spring we had unseasonably warm/hot temperatures with no sign of rain, just sun shining everywhere. This was following an unusually warm winter with little to no snow in the valley or up on the mountains. The local government implemented very strict water usage restrictions waaaay earlier than water restrictions are usually announced. We were told we could only water our yards 1 day per week, no washing cars allowed and no one with swimming pools would be allowed to put water in them this year. Oh, many people were up in arms about the later. The TV news showed people complaining, especially a fellow who installed swimming pools for a living and was about to loose his very lucrative business. Then suddenly the rain started to fall and doesn't seem to want to quit. It's been raining fairly heavily and steadily for several weeks now (forget just how long), the water reservoirs that had been low are now full and water restrictions have been changed yet still the rains fall.

May 31st... On this day last year, my brother Bernie's 50th Birthday, I was on a Memorial Motorcycle Ride for late friend Gord, husband of my good friend Wendy. It was a hot, sunshiny day with not a cloud in the sky. We rode for 249 km, stopping at some of Gord's favorite 'watering holes' which took us about 7 or 8 hours, and I had a sunburn by the time it was done. It was the first time I met Tuggy, we were introduced so he could 'pack' me, take me on this ride. It was an awesome day!! This year it is raining and would be a nasty day to be riding anywhere on a motorcycle. Last year it was Sunday... yesterday was Sunday and there was no sun in it, it was Rainday.

You just can not go by previous years weather patterns anymore, not like in past years when it was generally pretty much the same each year. April had rain, May was pretty much dry, June could be fairly wet. Now it's anybody's wild guess what the weather will be like... even the weatherman's.

My Magical Weekend

This weekend I was in a 2 day Quantum Touch workshop. Before this, on Thursday evening I went to Blenda & Raymond's place for dinner (Raymond's birthday) and to meet their friend Trudy (from Ontario, the instructor for QT workshop) and a couple other people. After dinner & cake we had a healing circle where 6 of us took turns being the 'healer' or person receiving the healing, and the 'facilitators' or people giving the treatment. When I watched the ones that went before me I saw they claimed to feel much better... less pain and such... though still a part of me was not really buying into this. I mean, I've lived with this pain for getting too close to 30 years and have tried pretty much everything with little or no pain reduction, so just can't easily 'buy into' what people tell me. I've heard all too often how great this or that is for weight loss or pain reduction etc and these things haven't worked for me, so I don't just believe now.

Anyway, so the time comes for me to be the 'healer' and I am asked where I hurt. Where don't I hurt? is more the question for me... so I tell them that I hurt everywhere, am asked a couple more questions and asked can I lay over a chair... on my stomach. Yes, I can do that. It's a bit tough for me to get into position, but I manage (very stiff and sore everywhere). As the other 5 people 'run energy' on me I feel not much of anything, though I start to notice after awhile that I'm feeling less stiff and sore. This could still be due to getting a good stretch in my back while hanging over the chair like that. Well, more time passes and my treatment is done. It was a bit of a challenge to get off the chair after 10? 20? 30? minutes in that position (I truly have no concept of the time this took), but there was very little of the pain left and I felt happier and more energized than before my treatment. WOW, it really DID WORK!!

I had an appointment with my doctor the next morning. I made it more than a week ago to talk to him about a few things, including the pain in my left hip. This pain has been there for several months now, fairly intense pain most of the time that causes me to limp a fair bit, especially after I've been sitting a short while. As I sat in his office I decided not to bother telling him about this hip pain. Why?? because I hadn't felt it since the QT treatment the night before. It's now 3 days since the treatment and I still have no pain in that hip joint!!! Will it come back again? I don't know... it might... and if it does I know now how to treat it.

Friday afternoon I went to an Information Seminar about Quantum Touch and the upcoming workshop. I didn't really need to do this as I had already decided to go to the workshop, though I found it interesting and it supported my decision to take part. Trudy lent me her only copy (that she had along on her trip anyway) of the book Quantum Healing by Richard Gordon (I thought this was very generous and kind), so I went and read it while waiting to go to dinner with a friend then spend the evening together.

Saturday all day was spent in the Quantum Touch workshop, then today, Sunday, most of us there went to Sunday Service at the Centre, out to lunch, then all met again to continue the workshop until after 6pm this evening. Many of us seemed to not really want to leave. The energy in that room was really awesome!!

Driving to and from all the events of my weekend, I enjoyed seeing the life all around me that takes place at this time of year: flowering trees, flowers of all kinds in beds, used rvs for sale, motorcycles, old and antique vehicles, sports cars, people and their dogs out for walks. Yes, it has been an awesome few days and I feel so blessed to have lived them.

How Long Will You Live??

A friend emailed me a link to a Life Expectancy Calendar, so I went and played their game. It's easy to answer their questions, very user friendly. They ask questions about life style and stress levels, diet and exercise, if you take prescription drugs or over the counter drugs (guess that includes things like apidexin which I don't take), do you take risks, wear your seatbelt, etc. etc.

These are the results I got:

Biological Age - 54
Virtual Age - 46.6

Average Life Expectancy - 77
Your Life Expectancy - 84.4

You can expect to live approximately another 11100 more days.

I wonder how accurate this will turn out to be... guess I have awhile to wait, just over 30 years, so check back and see if you're still alive then. :o)

My License Woes

As I said in my last post, " I still only have my learner's license, so have restrictions to what I'm actually allowed to do... only allowed to drive at a max of 60 km per hour, must at all times be accompanied by an adult with a valid bike license, can't carry a passenger and can't ride after sundown." I wrote my Knowledge Test the start of April and was told that there was a minimum of 2 weeks between tests. What they didn't tell me was to book in advance. I thought that once the trike was fully ready for the road I could insure it and go for my next two tests, then be fully licensed for the summer. NOT!!! I called a few days ago and found out that there are waiting lists and it will take 3 weeks to get in for my Skills Test (in parking lot, push it around, ride it around cones and all sorts of different things like that). For the final test, the Road Test, where you have to ride around town with the examiner following in a car, they are already booking into July and I can't book an appointment for that until I pass my Skills Test. This means that by the time I get to take that test it could be sometime in September or October! The snow could be flying before I get licensed to ride my trike!!!! This does not make me a happy camper! Once I pass the Skills Test 2 of the restrictions will be removed, meaning I will be able to drive at proper highway speeds, and I won't have to have a supervisor with me at all times. This will make things much better, though it still means I can't carry a passenger (so long as they don't class Reba as a passenger I'm okay with that) and I can't drive after sundown... not so good if I'm out somewhere and have to come home early or stay there all night. For example, if I want to ride to my Toastmaster's meeting (and I do) I can't because it's dark before it's over. I could be saving loads of dollars in gas money if I could be riding my trike instead of driving my truck... and if it would stop raining. Of course, I have to spend some extra on sun screen, face and eye creams that work, and anything else it takes to keep my face from getting all leathery and wrinkled in the summer wind and sun while riding.

It's Done... mostly

I've been riding my trike!! Several days I rode it around the yard where Tuggy lives, where my trike was converted from a 2 wheeler to a 3 wheeler... bike to trike. The next step was to insure it and go for short rides down the road that is just across the highway from afore mentioned yard. That was wonderful, though not as wonderful as the day we went for a ride into town.

A couple days before the ride in to the rodeo.

After these photos, I painted part of the mags... will include another photo soon.

The horseshoes are off my "skin horse" that is no longer in my life and I still miss him so much after many years of not having him anymore. The flames are done with 'Diamond Dust', so glitter and shine a lot in the sunshine.

My gas tank with lots of Diamond Dust to create the Ghost Flames.

Last Sunday, the 24th of May, I drove (with Tuggy following on his trike) the 2 km into the small town where he lives. Each May long weekend they host a big rodeo and loads of bikers come to town... not to watch the rodeo and I'm not really sure why, but they do. I still only have my learner's license, so have restrictions to what I'm actually allowed to do... only allowed to drive at a max of 60 km per hour, must at all times be accompanied by an adult with a valid bike license, can't carry a passenger and can't ride after sundown. This meant that we had to ride in along the shoulder rather than in the main flow of the highway at 90 km/hr. It was pretty a incredible feeling pulling into town on my own machine, especially with many people already lined up waiting for the parade. Of course we parked by the pub where all the bikers park... many more bikes arrived after I took these photos.

You can see the back of my trike in this one. There will later be horseshoes on the outer pieces of cedar on my tailgate.

Many of the bikers, cowboys and other assorted people were checking out my trike. Tuggy was pretty proud that it was getting so much attention and I didn't mind either. :o)

After the parade we went for lunch, then for a ride up a 'side road' that goes out of town and through the mountains, past lakes and over creeks and cattle guards. After awhile we turned around and returned to town where we stopped to visit with a few people, then rode back to Tuggy's. This was the longest ride I've done and was awesome!! 35 km all together. A short distance by most standards, but was still a thrill. Riding motorcycle, or at least trike, is hard work and requires a fair amount of upper body strength. I've always been very strong which is a good thing, and even so I find it a real work out on my arms, upper back and hands. It is not one of the best fat burners, yet sure is a workout when you're not used to it.

It's Almost Done!!

Today, as with many days lately, I went out to where my trike spent the winter, where it has been turned from a 2 wheeled motor bike into a 3 wheeler. It has been so totally cool seeing, and being part of its transformation. It is coming so close now to being on the road, though even then it's won't be really 'finished' and may never be. That is, there are many little and some not so little changes that will be made as I have money to do them, things that may change each year for some time to come. However, for the most part it is nearly finished, just some wiring left to do for the brake/tail lights and the signal lights, the tail gate has to be done yet, as well as a few other little bits here and there. Today when I got there, I got to see it with the Diamond Dust all done, and the wood all in the box (except for the tail gate)... it's a metal frame with cedar. This trike has been made with mostly recycled materials and I will tell you more about them in a few days. I took photos of it today, they are still in the camera and the camera is in the truck while I am in bed and too tired to go back out for the camera. I am sure that tomorrow I will take more photos as more work will have been done. In a few days I will post photos and more info here for you to see.

The first day I rode, it was so awesome and yet kind of scary. I had to learn to coordinate my hands to work the brake, clutch and accelerator all at once. Just a tiny move of the wrist can over rev the engine so easily so it takes lots of practice to get used to doing it right. I practiced doing starts and stops in order to be able to start out without stalling the bike as well as to get used to using the hand brake (front wheel). The second time I day I rode it I again did the above as well as using the foot brake (back wheels), and just to add some interest to my practice session, I through in weaving around imaginary obstacles. Today was my 3rd day riding and I asked Tuggy how to change to second gear, he told me and I continued to do some starts/stops as well as shifting from 1st to 2nd then back down to 1st. I am now using my right hand to do the front brake and accelerator, my left hand to do the clutch, my right foot for the back brakes, and my left foot to shift the gears. I've driven cars/trucks for getting too close to 40 years and many of them were standards (my current truck is a 5 speed standard) so I am used to shifting gears while steering and braking and all that stuff, yet it is very different than what I am doing now. I am sure, however, that my years of experience in a 4 wheel vehicle stands me in good stead with riding my motorcycle.

Oh ya, this morning I went to town and had my A1C done (every 3 months I have to have this blood test done to check my blood sugar levels as well as doing regular testing with my blood glucose monitor). You have to fast for 12 hours before having this test done, so I figured today would work well for doing this. After the test I went to my insurance agent and put 5 months insurance on my trike!!!! Now I am legal to go onto public roads. From there I was headed to McDonald's to grab a tea & something to eat, driving past the entrance to Value Village (2nd hand chain store) I felt I should go in to look for 'saddle bags' for my trike. I had thought it would be nice if I still had my horse saddle bags, but I don't, so had looked at some purses though hadn't found the right ones yet. I got really lucky and found not just 1 but 4 back packs the same so bought 2. These are black, never been used, have 3 zipper pockets each & 2 net pockets on the outside for water bottles or whatever, have wheels and handles that pull up to extend for pulling them. I figured the handles would act like a frame to give stability to the bags. They fit perfectly on the trike and look pretty good too. I also bought another purse/pack that I liked and a little back pack that has horses and horse shoes on it, just couldn't pass them up though I have several purses and bags already... sigh. I don't have many pairs of shoes, but do have likely near a dozen purses and mini back packs.

At Tuggy's, as well as riding and photographing the trike, I took a bucket of soapy water and an SOS pad and gave the wheels (front & both back) a really good scrubbing. They look soooo much better than the did. I had ordered a helmet from the local Harley dealer last week and found out today that the one I ordered and pre-paid for was no longer available, so we went there today and ordered another kind. This is a small place so he doesn't carry a lot of stock, the helmets he has are mostly size L and even the M is too big for me, so I have to special order a S. Hopefully this one will come in and I will pick it up next Wednesday or so. In the meantime, I do have an older helmet that Tug gave me that does fit and is DOT approved, though the DOT sticker has been painted over so this could cause some problems if the law decided to check it. You can still see there is a sticker under the paint, but can't actually read it.

Having eaten an Egg & Bacon McMuffin & large tea for breakfast, some jelly beans at Tuggy's, a Fibre 1 bar and a bit of water, I was happy to go along with the plan when Tuggy suggested we go to town and split a large order of fries, and of course I had several cups of tea. Then we decided to split an order of bread pudding with caramel sauce and whipped cream. It was good, though not as good as my Mom makes, and I make bread pudding even better than Moms, so it was a bit of a disappointment yet still plenty eatable. After this though, I felt like my jeans were too tight and I might explode. Not that I felt all that full, just more like very bloated. I think I could have used a kymaro body shaper... though maybe I would have popped if I tried to hold the body in as it wanted to bloat and swell up. POP!!!

On my way home I went to visit my friend DJ and have a tea with her. She is part of my TOPS group. I lead the meeting last week, so still had the binder that Jan will need for tomorrow's meeting. I am not going to be going tomorrow, so needed to get it back and had thought I'd drive out to Jan's then called and found they were not home. It then dawned on me that it would be much less out of my way to go to DJ's than to Jan's anyway, so all worked out well.

Now... off to sleep so I can get up early and go back to do more with the trike.

Word Association Meme

Alice Audrey hosts the Association Meme:

Have you ever played the word association game? In that game, someone will say a word, then the next person says the first word they think of. Each person who follows simply says what ever word comes to mind, based on the previous word.

For instance:
Person 1: red
Person 2: bull
Person 3: pasture
Person 4: grass
etc.

For the meme, it would look more like this:

Alice said: Go!
Sacred Ruminations said: Forth and Multiply
Heather said:

As you can see, Alice Audrey has taken this to another level and adjusted it for blogging. Here are the rules:

1. Anyone can play, whether they have been tagged or not.
2. Include the rules and logo in your post.
3. Copy out all the responses that were made before you.
4. Link to each of the people who responded before you.
5. Put in your response. Your response can be as little as a single word or as much as 100 words. It can be a word, a phrase, an image, a song, a video, a story, or a short rant.
6. Tag anyone you would like to challenge to play this game. You do not have to tag anyone.
7. You can do this any time you run across it, even if you were one of the previous responders.

If you have done this meme on your blog, you are welcome to put your link on Alice Audrey 's blog, on the 'home' of this meme. Be sure to link to the specific post, and welcome to the Association Association.

Want to simply jump in? You are welcome to start with the word “Excitement”, or to take off from any of the responses you find among the players listed below.

1. Excitement (Alice Audrey)

2. Thrill (Hootin’ Anni)

3. Suspense (Hazel)

4. Murder (Thom – the first time)

5. Premeditated (PattiKen)

6. Intentions (Thom)

7. Plans (Quilly)

8. Of mice and men (Reba)

9. Cats & Dogs (me)

Reba News

Reba has been doing so well lately, it's awesome. Her foot is not totally healed yet, but better all the time. As her foot got worse and worse I had to start lifting that 90 pound rottweiler out of the back of my truck each time we went anywhere, and there were times when I took her out and she wouldn't or couldn't get back in to come home so I had to lift her up into the truck. This is much more challenging than lifting her down, and I found the easiest way to lift her up was to first lift her front legs and place the feet onto the tailgate of the truck, then left her back end up. Being a 4 wheel drive, the truck is fairly high. Anyway, even after the surgery where they removed her toe i had to continue to lift her out as I didn't want the foot to be injured when she hit the ground. As time passed I was thinking it was likely about time for her to jump out by herself again, though she kept waiting for me to lift her down and I have no way to know if the foot still hurts or not, so I continued to 'let her down gently'. A few days ago when we came home I was just about to lift her down, after our now 'usual' snuggle with her standing on the tailgate where she's high enough to put her head over my shoulder and cuddle up close... and the neighbor dog barked. Reba was off the tailgate like a shot and over to the fence between the two yards to visit. HA!!! No more lifting that heavy dog for this gal... at least not in the foreseeable future. It is just so wonderful to have her back to her happy, bouncy, puppy-like self again, just like before the pain she went through.

I am so grateful!!!

Thursday ... Part 2

In the afternoon, about 4pm, I said 'bye' to my TOPS friends and headed to Mom's for a visit. My brother Bernie and his youngest daughter Jillian (19) were down from north of Edmonton, Alberta. He owns a house in the town where Mom lives and as his tenants have moved out he has been fixing it up to sell it. I really like the place. It's an older house and has some really great features that I love, especially all the cupboards and drawers. Our eldest sister's (Anne) son Denny came up too. He used to live here then moved to the Vancouver area, then to Mississippi for a few years, then back to Vancouver area, now back to the north Okanagan, and back to working for Hydro. He made the 30 minute drive to see Bernie and visit Mom. I haven't seen Den in about 5 years so was kind of nice. He said he'll come visit me one of these days... I don't want him her until I get this place back in better shape, clean and tidy, and that could take years yet. Mom, Jillian, Bernie, Denny, our sister Marcy, her husband Randy, and myself all went to Salmon Arm for dinner out. It was a very nice evening and I hated to say good-bye, not knowing how long it will be before I see some of them again. It's been a very long time since I last saw Jillian and she is so grown up now... so very beautiful, inside and out. Any young man with half a brain will soon have her shopping for wedding favors... and I hope she's smart enough to not go for it, to wait until she's much older to settle down and marry.

Thursday ... Part 1

I had a wonderful day yesterday. It started just after 7:30am with me having gone to sleep just after 2am. Short night preceded by a long day though I still felt good.

TOPS is my every Thursday morning 'thing'. This week, as co-leader of our group and with our leader away, I led the meeting. I was told later that I did a really good job of it. I was glad to hear that as it was only my second time doing this job and many of the others were away the first time I did it. I had been feeling like I may have 'found' some weight again, and was happy to find I'd 'released' 3/4 of a pound. Not a huge drop, though still going in the right direction. Pat (a friend from Toastmasters & TOPS) did a 'program' on Mindful Eating. She did a great job of it and I think we all learned a little something. I know that I at least will be more aware of eating slower and actually enjoying the taste and textures of the food rather than just woofing it down. Well, at least I hope I will... didn't remember to do so last night... sigh. After the meeting closed, most of us went to our usual restaurant for lunch. This is the only one in town that will work around DJ's eating needs as she has celiac disease. After lunch, as usual, some of us went to our favorite thrift store. I had decided to not buy much if anything as I am having financial difficulties this month... ya, best laid plans. I did need pants as with dropping weight my clothes tent to get to big after awhile. This is a good thing. There was a 10 cents per item sale on in the 'general' area and all green tags in 'quality' section were reduced to $1. In 'general' I got a belt to use for making Reba a harness for trike riding, a few nice purses, a cool scarf for riding my trike on cool days, and a cute little ornament to give to Mom. At 10 cents each that was not at all bad. Then Pat and DJ (my personal shoppers) found me a skirt & 2 pairs of pants so up to the till again and bought them. Then Pat found a pair of even better pants, with a green tag, in 'quality' and they didn't fit her so I tried them and they were perfect... DJ found me a really nice black leather jacket that is perfect for on or off my trike, so hey, can't beat something like that for only $5!! By the time I left I had spent over $8 there. Off we went to McDonald's for a ice cream treat and tea... another $5. So, add up my spending for my TOPS day ... $18. Not bad when you think of everything I got for my money, that leather jacket by itself in most second hand places would have been a lot more than that... however, with my current situation and the end of the month still a ways away, I should not be spending like that. This happens every week. I figure I spend $80 to $100 extra dollars per month on my Thursday TOPS socialization. Must cut back and have a plan to do so. Pack lunch, eat in park for summer months, then go for a walk instead of shopping. This will help the finances as well as the figure. I emailed my TOPS friends to invite them to join me.

I read on the internet one of those lipozene reviews, for a product that supposedly helps people loose weight. I was surprised that it was a very negative review as usually they are touting the advantages of taking these things. Then it went on to tell us about some other products that 'work'. I don't know if these kind of things work or not... I just know that, for me and many others, TOPS works... and I have some really great friends now that I didn't have before I joined the group!

Random Thoughts and Information

Just some random thoughts before I go to sleep:

- Last night at my regular Tuesday evening Toastmasters, I was voted in as President of our club... a one year commitment.

- As C0-Leader of my TOPS group, I will be leading the meeting tomorrow morning (later this morning I guess as it's after 1am already). I am new in this executive position and know this will be a great experience.

- I wonder how many people visit bellyfatburner.org

- My younger brother and his youngest daughter (in her late teens) are both out from north of Edmonton, Alberta, staying at Mom's for a few days. I am going to visit Mom tomorrow afternoon, after my TOPS meeting. I don't know if Bernie & Jillian will be around as they will be busy out visiting and working on the house Bernie owns in "Mom's town" (he had renters in there and now is fixing it up to either sell or rent out again).

Well, I really must go to sleep now. It has been a very long, wonderful day and before I got my second wind, I was very tired. I must be up in less than 6 hours to fully enjoy another long, wonderful day. I send you all wishes for an awesome day!!

I DID IT!!! I FINALLY DID IT!!!

I had a really fabulous day today!!!

I got up around 8am and after feeding animals and doing a few other small things around the house I drove to town and bought the 2 cans of Tremclad gloss black spray paint I had forgotten to get yesterday while in town. Next I stopped at McDonald's to get a tea as I'd forgotten the one I made at home. Driving out of town on my way to Tuggy's, about a 30 minute drive from town, remembered I'd forgotten to give Reba a bucket of water out in her pen and to take meat out of the freezer to thaw for Reba's dinner this evening (I feed her raw meat), so I stopped at home, just a short distance out of my way, and took care of that as well as grabbed the tea I'd left behind earlier (still warm in my travel mug). On the way to Tuggy's I stopped at Bobby's (friend of Tug and a couple other of my friends) to pick up a wheel (got 2 before, now this one as a spare... for my trike).

While at Tuggy's we had to bleed the back brakes on my trike, then I got to ride it!!!! This is my first riding lesson. It was a combination of scary and exciting!!!!!! (which, by the way, are both the same emotion but using different names). It was a bit of a challenge to get the hang of it. I have driven for many years and am a good driver and this is so very different than driving a car/truck! Right hand does the gas/throttle and front brake, left hand does the clutch, left foot is the gear shifter and right foot the back brakes. Just the tiniest movement of the throttle makes so much difference and it's not easy to move it just such a tiny little bit. I stalled several times (which Tug had expected for my first time) and over revved as often, though in a short time I managed to smooth things out and do pretty good. I drove back and forth in the yard, turning around at each end then to add interest, I began doing stops and starts to get used to using the brake and the clutch and the throttle, starting out without stalling or jerking. At first I only used the front brake, then added in the use of the back brake. I really think I did well for my first time and am really looking forward to going back out there and riding again. It will take a bit of time to learn it all and to become confident and most importantly competent... and I know I will manage to do this just fine.

We got on Big Red after awhile and rode to Harley Charlie's place and I bought myself my first helmet. Unfortunately, he didn't have one in stock that fits me as I need a size small (guess I'm not such a fat head after all, haha) so I paid him anyway and he is ordering one in for me. After this we went for a nice ride, not a long ways but it was beautiful. We stopped at a place where he once nearly bought 23 acres, walked along the creek and I got to pick up lots of beautiful and interesting rocks, many of them BC Jade. This area is 'littered' with Jade. I love rocks so was in my glory. The whole place was incredibly beautiful and I want to go back there with my truck one day soon. I'll take buckets to fill with rocks, take a sleeping bag to camp there, a good book to read when I have time, my fishing rod, and of course Reba... can't go do something like that without my beloved dog. Oh ya, we saw lots of Moose poop all around there and Deer tracks. When I go back there I will be sure to take my camera with a fully charged set of batteries and an empty memory card.

Back to Tuggy's: he gave me the little helmet I had worn today just because it fits me, haha, as well as a leather hat to wear when I have 'helmet head' (hair badly messed up from wearing a helmet), and a small socket set so I will have some tools to work with for any thing I want/need to do to my trike later on. "Supplementing your Dad's tools" he said. I'd previously shown him the tools I have here and told him that they mostly were my Dad's. And yes, I got back on my trike and did some more riding around the yard.

In between, here and there, work was done on the box for my trike and on the way it will be mounted. We also went through some of his stuff to find an old windshield that we hoped would fit my trike and it didn't so I will eventually have to find/buy a different one as it makes riding much more pleasant from what I've been told, really breaks the wind and makes a major difference. I had taken some old horse shoes I had here, saved from when I had horses in my life. They are somewhat worn down as they are all used though this is no problem. After removing old nails and cleaning the shoes up a bit, Tuggy spray painted them gloss black, then put some Diamond Dust on them. Wow, do they ever sparkle in the sun!!! Diamond Dust is multi-colored little specks that glitter like, well, Glitter, only is way more costly. It only takes a tiny bit to make a big pretty! These two shoes will go on the back on the box of my trike, and likely 2 more will be done, one for each side of the box. Tug has a "Mustang" name tag off a Mustang car that will also be put on there. I told him I am hoping that riding my "iron horse" will help me to not so badly miss my "skin horse", then when I mentioned putting horse shoes on it I expected he'd want to shoot me for being crazy, yet he surprised me by agreeing with it and coming up with the Diamond Dust idea. He will be painting lots of my trike with the gloss black, putting Diamond Dust in some strategic places, then, as with the horse shoes, putting on 2 coats of clear. I'm looking forward to taking photos of the finished product and posting them here to show you.

I've been thinking that now I'll be riding all summer, in the hot Okanagan sunshine, I will have to take care to protect my face. I have very few wrinkles for a woman my age and I want to keep it that way. Wind and sun can both be hard on skin, so I must be sure to use moisturizers, anti wrinkle creams, and sunscreen. I rarely do any of this, just go with 'natural'.

After we put Mustang and Big Red (the 2 trikes) to bed (safely locked away in the shop), I drove back home. Shortly after I arrived, like within 10 minutes, Dan came by to borrow my printer as his is out of ink. He took me for a drive to town, stopped at McDonald's to get tea & coffee, then drove to the beach for awhile (amazing how many other people were there at around 9:30pm). It was nearly 11pm when he drove me home and left again.

I am so very grateful for so very much. I am truly blessed on so many levels!!!

Trike and Truck

Last week we (Tuggy & I) worked at over coming a problem with the back brakes on my trike. His nephew, Vic, took a look at it after we had changed all the brake lines and spent many hours trying to bleed the lines with no success. Vic is a mechanic and he said the problem was with the brake peddle Tuggy had manufactured. It wasn't pushing the shaft far enough into the master cylinder. So on Sunday we made some big changes to the peddle mechanism and got the back brakes working really well. Cool!!! Now it was finally time for my first lesson... just as soon as Tug took the trike for a little spin to make sure all was working well before he let me on it.

First, we pushed it out of the shop into the yard... then to start it took some time and we had to boost it with my truck. There had been a strange sound in my truck for the past few days which turned out to be the alternator... and now it made some crunching, grinding sounds and that was it... it quit. By then, the trike was running so Tug went to ride it and made it maybe 2 inches... the drive shaft "calved". It just twisted apart at one of the welds. The welder Tug had to the work is very expensive as it turned out, and very incompetent.

I was able, after we pushed the trike back inside, to drive my truck home where it stalled when I was backing up the hill. Thankfully I was nearly at the top so when it wouldn't start with a dead battery I was able to roll down the hill and let out the clutch, thereby 'jump starting' it.

The next day, Monday, I got an alternator from one of the auto wreckers in town, thanks to Dan driving me in to town. Then Tuggy came in as Dan is not a mechanic and had no idea how to change it over. He and I (mostly him) took the old one out and put the 'new' one in... and when I started the truck and checked my gauges I saw it wasn't charging!! We figured this meant there was a problem with the alternator so I called the auto wrecker who said they didn't have another one like that. The next day, Tug called saying he'd found another one, that a friend of his has a smashed Ranger we can get the alternator out of. So he came on Big Red (his trike) and picked me up as well as some of my tools and off we went. Turned out the front of the truck was smashed in so it was a really big job to get to the alternator though once we finally got to it, it was easy to get out. We brought it back here and put it into my truck... and it wasn't charging. No way could we have 2 bad alternators, so we drove it to an auto electric place and had it tested. It turned out that both the alternators were good, and there was a fuse that was burned out. It cost me $40 to find this out... and about 15 minutes.

I returned the first alternator to the auto wrecker and got my $60 back, then took us for burgers. It was a long day and well past eating time, lol. So... in the end the cost was: $10 to Tuggy for gas, free alternator from his friend, $40 to get them checked and replace the fuse, $15 for eats = $65 and I'm back on the road. Could have been a LOT worse.

I actually really enjoyed the time spent ripping apart that guy's smashed truck to get to the alternator and think if my body was in a bit better shape I'd see about working at an auto wreckers taking vehicles apart. Today I really am paying for the fun though. I was in so much pain this morning that I could hardly move so went to the Rec Centre to soak in the hot tub then to the Chiropractor for a treatment and I have to go back on Monday for another one. Medical covers part of these treatments though I have to pay a user fee of $12 each, then after 10 treatments medical coverage runs out and I have to pay $25 per treatment, so I hoard the things, trying to stretch them out as well as I can over the year. I am better now, though still stiff and sore.

Due to the 'down time', I was unable to get to my Volunteer work at the Food Bank this Monday morning, or to Aqua Therapy Monday and Tuesday afternoons. I even forgot to go to Toastmasters on Tuesday evening as I was so busy with getting all that done and got home around the time I would have had to be leaving to drive there... and only had relaxing my sore & tired body in my mind.

On Tuesday, before and after Tuggy was here, I did some sewing which I will tell about later. For now, I must get off here as sitting here typing is becoming rather painful. Time to go to bed me thinks.

Nite nite.

Making Headway... I hope

I've been working at cleaning up my home. You see, it's gotten pretty bad... I suffer from a terrible disease called Flat Surface Syndrome where you are compelled to pile things onto any and all flat surfaces in your home... including the floor. It is a terrible thing to live with... sigh. Anyway, I am working at overcoming it. My friend Tuggy asked me to clean at least my bathroom so he could feel more comfortable when he comes to visit me. I think that is fair and have made some progress in there. I cleared all the clothes off the vanity and the only things on there now are things that belong on a vanity (a nice cloth, some books, 2 mirrors - one that lights up and one that doesn't, hair and face products). The other day I purchased 3 curtains at the thrift store, really long and very narrow. When I first looked at them I wondered what they could be used for, then thought of the bathroom. I cut one down to make the cloth for the vanity and hemmed a piece I cut off of it to put onto the back of the toilet. I have also shortened one, changing the top of it so it can be put onto a rod rather than hung on a window with the standard metal thingies. When I get the next one shortened and the top changed, these 2 will be hung by the tub, just to make it look prettier. I have a see-through shower curtain and these will add a little something to the look. I used to have while curtains up there and now will use them somewhere else.

Tuggy was here a couple days ago, sitting at my computer desk that was piled high with 'stuff'. He started putting things into drawers and handing me things "put this in the back room, your tools don't belong on your computer desk" or "here girl, put this away". The desk sure looked good when he was done... now if I can only keep it that way. Some things are on it, but not for long :o)

Tonight, talking to Tug on the phone, he said to pack a bunch of my clothes into big bags then I can sort through them and return the 'keepers' to the closet, putting the ones I don't want or no longer fit into shipping boxes and taking them to the thrift shop. I have lots of clothes hanging and stacked in my laundry room so when I put all the clothes from my closet into bags or boxes I will move most of them from the laundry room to the closet... and some into boxes or bags to go to the thrift store. A couple weeks ago I took a big bag of clothes to the thrift and have nearly another bag ready to go... maybe will drop it off tomorrow.

Yup, I will win the fight against this nasty Flat Surface Syndrome.... or die trying. I never was the greatest house keeper, always was a bit cluttered, but never anywhere near as bad as I am now. A few years of depression and 28 or so years of pain takes its tole on people. I, however, and not going to let any of that win.