Beneath the Wraps

                It’s hot.  So hot.  I asked Alexa to tell me the temperature in Las Vegas – it always makes me feel better that it’s cooler in Oregon than elsewhere.  And yet I remember being cold in Las Vegas when I was there in March this year.  COLD in LAS VEGAS.  Cold wind blowing.  I don’t even remember experiencing wind in Las Vegas before.                Today’s first was at the dentist.   Yes, I am a little plastered out of my mind.   The heat does that to me.   Under normal circumstances I cry whenever I am in the dentist chair because I’m a dweeb.   I don’t have anything against the dentist per se – I just don’t like being in a laying down position with my mouth wide open and tools in my mouth and the need to swallow but can’t.                Toda...

Even Before my hair started turning white, I would pass a mirror and see mom’s reflection in myself.   It seemed more apparent with white hair – not that mom always had white hair.   I don’t think she let it go white until after I had gotten married and moved out.   I miss my mom. I remember some quirky things that mom always seemed to do – like complain about having to use construction detours.   She would refer to having to “drive clear around the world”.   It made us laugh.   There were many things that she said that would put a smile on my face.   She wasn’t even trying to be funny which made it all the more humorous. Often Jenna will laugh at things I say the same way I laughed at mom.   It doesn’t bother me.   Progressive has several commercials that state, “We can’t prevent you from becoming your parents . . .”   Well, good.   Both of my parents were rather awesome people and I am grateful when others compare me t...

          Grocery Outlet opened a location in Myrtle Creek.  On Thursday morning they had an open house which started at 9:00.  According to an employee there, people started lining up at 5:00 a.m.  That's crazy!  Driving to unfamiliar territory without a GPS - also crazy.            Some people are offended by the word “Crazy” while others find humor in the word and may even feel honored that “crazy” was the adjective chosen to describe them.   I think of Jenna and my brother-in-law Bill as being crazy.   “Crazy” is unique or silly and a brief description of their fun behavior.   It’s not a word I use to imply insanity or being deranged . . . at least with them.  Not in a negative way, at least.             I have played the card game crazy eights and a similar game called “Crazy Countries”  http://beneaththewraps.blogspot....

          The discussion post this week is on being an effective leader.   We need to have examples about our emotional intelligence and what skills we need to improve on and how we would improve.   Roland is always coming up with ideas that I've never thought of.   I don't see myself as a leader and I knew that Roland would have some suggestions - one was my position in the family, which of course I hadn't considered.   I tried writing a few paragraphs about that - but each paragraph felt too biography and introductory and perhaps a little too horn-blowy - which is not what I wanted.   I don't know how many times I changed it before I finally turned something in.   Meanwhile I have come up with some more thoughts for a blog post.           I remember going to a wedding reception held outdoors.   I don't even recall what time of the year, but I remember the...

        We went to get the car washed yesterday.   Though not an automatic carwash, it brought up memories - though not in chronological order. Memory 1:         When Kimball learned to talk, he'd talk with such excitement that he'd often stumble over his words and came across as stuttering;   he would also put himself in third person.   Kimball LOVED vehicles, dump trucks, cranes, cherry pickers, tractors . . . you name it.   He really did know the names and what they did.   My mom thought he would be fascinated by the car wash as well.   He wasn't.   He was actually very freaked out.         "I'm sorry, Kimball," (once in the automatic car wash has started, the driver needs for it to finish before exiting) "but I really thought you might like the carwash."         "Kimball doesn't li-li-like the carwash. ...

            As I was growing up, I can remember doing a lot of role playing with my family members.   What would you do if you were in this situation?   How do you think you would react?   What would you do differently? . . . I can't speak for my sibs, but I believe they felt prepared as I when we were approached with a given situation.   We didn't have to analyze because we already had the answers.           For example, when we had been approached by the doctors in the final stages of mom's life (before we knew they were the final stages)we were faced with a decision.   We could have put mom on dialyses and had her leg amputated.   Long before she got dementia, mom had been quite vocal about not ever wanting to be on dialyses.   With her state of mind, she really wouldn't have known whether we honored that wish or having even requested it.  S...