My New Front Door

After 15 years of walking into my house through a boring, run of the mill, ugly, metal, front door, I made a decision some time ago to replace that door and install a new better looking door, one that has a little panache. After searching the neighborhood Lowes, Home Depot, etc, Kay and I finally located the door that we wanted. Now, I have installed many doors in my earlier construction years, but that was a life time ago, and although I am sure that I could have accomplished the task, I fear I would have had to place a piece of plywood over the entryway, because I am not sure that I could have finished it myself in time to go to bed.

My brother, Keith, and my Dad had come to town. They were only here for a few days but Keith offered to help me install the door (we hadn't purchased it yet but we had it picked out and we were ready for the purchase.) Alas, "my dad didn’t raise no dummies," so I willingly agreed. We could have gone sight seeing. We wanted to go to Boulder Dam and see the new bridge that is being built across Black Canyon, but he volunteered and I accepted his offer. We ran to Home Depot, purchased the door and brought it home.

Out came the old door and in went the new. Keith is a contractor in Hawaii so this was old hat to him. The new door went in in about 2 hours, in no small measure, due to Keith's expertise. See why I was more than willing to accept Keith's assistance. (I assisted, I held the nails and Keith used the hammer. I only lost one fingernail. Well not really. If I fell for that old carpenters trick I couldn't say, "My Dad didn't raise no dummies" now could I?).

I sure like the door. What do you think, it does have some panache, doesn’t it?

Kay and the closet

Kay says that I snore. Now I cannot with any degree of certainty confirm or refute this allegation. See, I don’t stay awake to find out one way or the other. But this incident rather strongly suggest that I may.

See, I have been suffering from a cold for the last several days. I suppose that this may have had an effect on my breathing that night. At any rate, we went to bed at our usual time. I zonked out almost immediately. Sometime later, I awoke realizing that Kay was not lying in the bed beside me. Occasionally she has issues getting to sleep and rarely manages to nod off before I do. If I snore, I suppose that she would be the one who would know for certain. At any rate, I awoke, realizing that she wasn’t there. I decided that I needed to check on her to see if she was alright. While I was arousing my witts, (you know how it is when you wake up from a deep sleep, and need to spend a second or two to get the cobwebs out), well I realized that the light indicating that I had messages was flashing on my cell phone. Well in today’s society, what does one do when the cell phone indicates that there are messages? One listens to the messages, right? One might also add that 1:30 am is a rather strange time to listen to voice mail messages, but that is what I was doing. (It isn't really all that strange, is it?) Suddenly I heard this rather sheepish little voice come from what I thought was the throne room in our bath area. “Larry, who are you talking to?” I acknowledged that I was listening to my messages. Then, realizing that the voice I had heard did not come from the throne room, I asked, “Kay where are you?” Now here comes the part that I laugh about every time I think of it. She said, “I’m in the closet.” Now the lights were off so it was obvious that she wasn’t looking over her wardrobe for the clothes that she was wearing the next day. I have to admit there were several thoughts going through my mind at that time. The most significant of which I verbalized, “Kay, what in the world are you doing in the closet at 1:30 in the morning” Answer, “I’m trying to sleep.” New thought, “Kay why are you trying to sleep in the closet?” Answer, “You were snoring so much that I couldn’t get to sleep.” (I have to admit that my initial thought processes included denying that I snore but elected to with hold that bit of information.) New thought, “Kay, what are you covering up with?” Answer, “A towel.” New thought, “Kay, why didn’t you just poke me in the ribs and tell me to stop snoring?” Answer, “I didn’t want to wake you up” Now how thoughtful is that. But a towel on the floor of the closet at 1:30 in the morning? Do you see why this struck me as funny?”

Now I am not admitting that I snore. But If I do, Kay, next time try poking me and asking me to stop. No more of this in the closet, covering up with a towel in the wee hours of the morning to avoid the noise. OK? For her version, click here.

I didn't mean to swim on Sunday

It has been 15 years since I moved into this house. 15 years with a pool in the back yard. 15 years of maintaining the pool, putting a cover on from time to time, cleaning, vacuuming, brushing and etc. 15 years of doing that and not once have I fallen into the pool while doing so. Not once, that is …… until today.

See a few weeks ago we purchased a pool cover. It had been a couple of years since we had one of these things and knowing that the cover will help hold in the heat, we figured that we could perhaps use the pool somewhat longer with a pool cover. However. removing and replacing the cover is a bit of a challenge. It is a piece of cake with 4 people but a significant challenge for a single person. Well, last week we added to our collection of pool equipment, a roller device that rolls the cover up. One person can easily remove the cover, so doesn’t it seem natural that one person can easily replace it. ………NOT. Today, I made an effort to do so. Not only did the device not unroll , but it tipped over. Special Kay came to my rescue. And between the two of us we almost got the cover on, ……. almost before I fell in. Yes, I fell into the pool, fully clothed. I found myself suddenly without firm footing for my left foot.. not only that but I found that my faith is not sufficiently strong, and the water failed to support my weight. Yes the water parted and accepted me into the depths thereof. Flailing my arms, trying to regain balance, all to no avail. I found my thought process going something like this, “Oh Dang, I am going to fall into the pool. (and if you believe I said dang, you don’t know me all that well)” Yep, my daddy didn’t raise no dummies. I realized that when there was no more footing and my arms were flailing and I didn’t regain my balance, I was going to fall into the pool.

After 15 years of cleaning and maintaining that stupid pool, you would think that I would be aware of the area where the pool juts out to allow for a seat in the side of the pool. Right at this point the wall of the pool juts out about 1 foot. I have sat there, I have cleaned it, I have put my grandkids there. You would think that I would realize that it was there. But no, I tried to walk right over it.

Did you ever try to laugh while under water. Well, that doesn’t work very well either, I know I have tried. As I came back out of the water, I realized what a compassionate wife I have. Yes, Kay was shedding tears in my behalf. The fact that she was laughing so hard that she couldn’t control the tears is of secondary importance. She was shedding tears in my behalf. Thanks Kay, you really are compassionate after all. And it is alright for everyone to laugh about this. I have done so virtually all day. Every time I think about it I break out laughing. Every time I look at Kay, she breaks out in laughter. So laugh with us. It is OK. I will just have to walk forward the next time I put the stupid pool cover on.

A POST ABOUT BLOGGING

Today I am going to blog about…….. well, blogging.

I just can’t figure out where all the bloggers find enough hours in the day to blog even once a week let alone daily. Don’t get me wrong I find no fault with people finding the time to blog. I just find it difficult myself. If I find the time about once a quarter, I think that I am doing pretty well. But people still ask me, “Why don’t you blog more often?” Well, to answer that, I would love to do so. I find it fascinating not only to write about a few things myself, but to find out what other people feel inclined to write about. However, not only can I not find enough hours in the day to blog on a regular basis, I find it difficult to come up with any innovative subjects to write about. So there you have it. Not enough time in the day and a mind that doesn’t seem to be very creative when it comes to identifying something to blog about.

So here is my decision. I am going to keep a list of things to blog about. So far there are……….Well there isn’t a thing on the list just yet, but if I keep trying, maybe I will think of something in time for next quarter’s blog. I suppose we will have to wait and see.

Grandkids

Last week we had my daughter and her family from Colorado here for a visit.   It is too easy to forget just how wonderful it is to have children around.  It is true that there were times when the noise level was a few decibels higher than I am accustomed to,  but it was so nice to have them here.   I do have 5 grandsons that live here in Vegas (all four of my granddaughters live out of state).  I thoroughly enjoy seeing them on a regular basis.  I only get to see the five who live in Colorado and the three that live in Texas, once or twice a year.   Between visits there can be some significant changes, especially in the older ones.   Don’t get me wrong,  I love seeing the parents too,  but there is something about  the grandkids………..

 

It was also very nice to have so many of my children and grandchildren together at one time.   Last Wednesday we spent the day celebrating Kay’s Birthday.   All of my kids, and grandkids except those living in Texas were here.  We missed the Texans but enjoyed having the rest together.  

 

Michelle, Mike and Family,  thanks for coming.  Jaidi, Justin and Family,  wish you could have been here,  but we will see you in a few weeks.   Nigel and Z,  Kevin, Cass and Family, and Jeff,  thanks for making last week so very nice. 

 

Love you guys.

The little Nelson Girl from across the Street

How many men do you think can say, “My wife and I grew up together?”, or “My wife and I lived across the street from each other when we were kids?” Well, my wife and I can. Kay moved into our 8th street neighborhood in Ogden when she was three. (At least that is what she tells me because the reality is, I don’t remember a time before she lived across the street from me.) That being the case, I had to be about six. Kay was closer in age to my younger brother, Keith, so they spent more time playing together as youngsters than Kay and I did. I remember some specific incidents that I have mentioned to her already and she has sworn me to secrecy and threatened me with severe bodily harm if I was ever to divulge them (That is not really true but she asked me not to tell.) So I won’t. But we did in fact live across the street from each other. I suspect that she was probably there the day my family left our home on 8th street headed for Savannah, Georgia ( She would have been about 10 because I was 13). I am not sure about this but I recall that most of our neighborhood friends were there to say goodbye. Kay and I didn’t have much contact then until after I returned from my mission in Japan. We did have some history then. We went out together----- once! Not that I wasn’t impressed by her, because I was. I really can’t explain why we only went out once. But that was our dating experience. (We went to a movie, and recently as we drove past the site where the theater had been, she reminded me that I was stopped by a cop for speeding along the way. How incredible her memory is!) At any rate, not long after Kay and I went out on our first date, she met Carl and I met Shirlene. We got married to our respective spouses, one month apart in October and November of 1970. We recently looked into the guest book from Shirlene and my wedding and sure enough, there were signatures of Kay Nelson, Carl Bruce, Reed and Jean, Mont and Kathy Nelson. We haven’t looked at her wedding guest book but I am reasonably sure that Shirlene and I went to Kay and Carl’s wedding too (I just found out from Kay that Shirlene and I were at her wedding reception as well.).

Kay lost Carl to a Tragic accident after 34 years of Marriage. Shirlene died of cancer just before our 36th anniversary. About 6 months after Shirlene died, Kay sent me a sympathy letter. Sometime after that, we had dinner together (neither of us was willing to call it a date at the time.). We got along very well, kind of like old friends (interesting how that worked out). Conversation came very easily, much to our surprise. Over the next 18 months we continued to get along very well. We continued a long distance relationship, Kay from her home in Ogden, me from my home in Las Vegas (E-mails, IM’s, video chats, etc., really reduced the distance between us.). Since it sounds like we didn’t see each other except via the internet, I will add that I went to Ogden several times, Kay came to Vegas Several times. We saw each other on those occasions and got reacquainted through those visits. On March 21, 2008, Kay and I were married. We can indeed say that we are married to the kid from across the street. Unfortunately, we also have to say that there were nearly 38 years that lapsed between our first and second dates (a point which my new Mother-in-law has reminded me of a time or two). I can’t speak for Kay, but I can say that she has been a wonderful light in my life where there had been a lot of darkness; happiness where there had been a real feeling of loss and sadness; and fullness where there had been emptiness.

I did indeed marry the girl from across the street; the friend from the past. What a blessing she has been in my life. Thanks Kay! Love you!

Old Friends

This week I said goodbye to some old friends. These friends were not people. I am not sure just why it was so difficult to say goodbye to these old friends, it shouldn’t have been. They were just shirts. I have had a number of Hawaiian style shirts that have been in my closet for a pretty long time. I guess it is a matter of common expectation that one will get a little larger over a period of 15 years. Until this weekend I wasn’t sure just how much larger I had become. See, a few years ago, and some of the shirts in my closet would have verified this, I wore a size medium shirt. Sometime along the way, it became necessary for me to move up a shirt size, to large. Then somehow, the large shirts started feeling a little confining, so out of concern for that feeling on confinement (certainly not because I had become larger, just needed more room) I began buying some XL shirts. They felt so good on that I bought a couple of XXL shirts. That means that I had some medium, some large, a ton of XL and a couple of XXL shirts residing in my closet. How embarrassing it was when I realized how many of the shirts that were just hanging in my closet, I haven’t worn for who knows how many years. I decided that I would get rid of the shirts that I no can longer wear. Little did I realize that such a large percentage of my shirts would be taking the trip to DI.

Now I really don’t consider myself a sentimental person. But each shirt I picked up had some kind of memory associated with it. Hence, I was saying goodbye to an old friend with each shirt that hit the bag. This was not one of those sob sob cry cry kind of moments. Just the realization that some of these shirts, regardless of what kind of memories they had associated with them, were no longer worth keeping (Kay says that if I haven’t worn them in 6 months I probably don’t really need them). I haven’t gone down a size, even once, in the time that I have been in Vegas. I figure that it is unlikely that I ever will. In the interest of making more room in my closet, the logical thing to do was get rid of clothes that I couldn’t wear. I have to admit that my closet looks so much better than it did. I have so much more room. Do you know that the walls in my closet were the same color as the walls in my bedroom were? I wasn’t so sure that was the case.

Just a sideline here. I had 4 suits in my closet that I had been holding onto, figuring sometime, just maybe I would loose some weight and get back to those sizes (Well maybe it was really just wishful thinking.). Well that ain’t happening. They went into bag as well.