Then (2004 and Now (2014) in Grandma and me

Me Thursday- 3/4/2004 Figaro is cracking me up tonight. I slipped him some roast beef leftover from my dinner and then he jumped on the bed trying to find some more.Gave up on that and attacked the sack dinner came in but all he found were onions which he of course tried to eat. Now he has resigned himself to no more roast beef and is laying at the end of the bed. He must have gotten into a fight with someone though cause he has a wound on his ear.

I saw something the other night about animals being able to tell that another animal looks like them. The example was two black labs. I wonder if that accounts for Pepe and Oinks connection. If so Im going to get a look alike for all the other cats! Just kidding. However, I am going to keep that in mine when it comes time to get a new cat.

Work was worse than yesterday but not too bad. Listened to more of The Bad Place which has taken a couple of weird turns. At home I started reading The Famous DAR Murder Mystery by Graham Landrum which is pretty good. In the preface the author mentions his long deceased aunt who loved genealogy and murder mysteries. Gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to think maybe Im leaving fond memories for Gina and the J boys and when they become famous after Im gone I'll still live on in them. Thats one of the things about not having kids of my own that bothers me.

Me Friday - 3/5/2004 Work today was better than yesterday but worse than Wednesday. Sometimes I feel like Im working for Crooks R Us. Whenever I complain about it to my boss she points out that what the Doctor is doing is not right either but that doesn't help the poor patient who was just doing what his Doctor told him to do.If you guys could see the scams Ive seen being done by Doctors, hospitals, etc you would be scared to even set foot in a Drs office. What the average person thinks of as a simple inexpensive procedure can end up costing thousands and may not even be covered by insurance since the insurance company has recognized the scam but the poor patient has signed a form agreeing to pay for everything insurance doesn't pay.

After work I went to Toys R Us to buy Justin's birthday present. I ended up getting him a black light desk that lets him makes posters, stickers, and lets him write secret messages that you cant read unless you have a blacklight. Then I got him another CD for his Video Now Player plus a book that shows him how to draw animals. I got the game Mario Kart for all 3 of them, and Final Fantasy for me. :) Then I stopped at Petsmart to get some toys for the feline family members.

At Petsmart I saw the prettiest fluffy black cat up for adoption. I felt so bad for him. While the other cats were turned away from the window sleeping he was looking at me begging for a home. It out to be a law that everyone in the world have at least one cat! Cats are small and no trouble to take care of. People with allergies are excused from this ruling but they should be required to have an outside cat! I have done my fair share though and cant have any more. :(

Me Saturday - 3/6/2004 I got a late start to the farm because Vivian had to wait for her son to wake up before we could go to Curves. At least this time when I called Grandma to tell her I was going to be late I could blame it on someone else. My cousin's wife is spending the weekend with her two kids. when I came into the house Caden ran to me and gave me a hug which was unusual so I figured that he must have seen the Christmas present with his name on it. I let them open them right after I got there. AJ liked her Bratz car, and Caden liked his combine once we got it put together.

After lunch we went over to Uncle's and went back to see the three baby calves that were born last week. From now on the calves will be dropping like flies for the rest of the month. All except KC who always has her calf late in the year. Stars calf is in the lot next to the barn. Grandma thinks Star must have already had her weaned because she didnt bawl like a normal calf would. They got Star out of the pond by getting on a boat and breaking the water as they went then they tied a rope to her and dragged her out with a tractor. I asked Grandma if this was the first time it had ever happened to them and she said no that one time they lost twelves cows at once! She recalled a couple of times that they saw them fall through the ice and they were able to rescue them.

Caden stayed at Uncle's to play with Jason and Justin while AJ, her mom, me, and Grandma came home and played Uno. Later Josh, and Justin came over and we all played Uno and then had supper.

The kids brought Daddy Day Care to watch but neither me or Tia could get the VCR to work. So we watched Trading Spaces until bed time. Caden kept trying to get us to go to bed around 8, and he finally took matters into his own hands and grabbed the comforter Grandma keeps on the back of her sofa to keep the sun from fading her sofa and draped it over himself and went to sleep. I was glad to see him drift off as I had been watching SpongeBob Square Pants just to keep him happy.

Me Sunday - 3/7/2004 Caden is such a sweetie. He was talking away at me today, and suddenly announced that my mom was his Uncle Weez, and he hadnt seen her in a long, long, long time. I said well lets call her. When she answered I told her that someone wanted to talk to her and handed the phone to Caden. He chatted away for the longest time. His dad is a truck driver so I guess he is used to chatting on the phone. He kept telling my mom that he could see her and she was just sure I had some sort of new phone that could see her through the phone line! He was only looking at a picture on the wall of my grandparents and their kids that was taken shortly before Gpa died.

Then he wanted to know if his Grandma, Grandma (his name for his great Grandma, was my for real Grandma. I showed him the picture again and explained that his Grandma and my mom were sisters, and that his Grandma, Grandma was their mom and my grandma. He then pointed to my Gpa and said that was his Grandpa Harry, and that he missed Grandpa Harry. I was surprised he could remember Grandpa. Caden would only be about 3 when he died.

I dont know if it was that conversation or what that made me think of Grandpa later when I was driving by the cemetery. I thought about going to the cemetery and visiting but I knew if I did I would cry and cry. I thought of how much I miss him, and wonder that the world can go on turning without him in it. Then I thought about older people who have tons of family and friends that have died and how can they go on with all those loved ones gone and I find it hard to go on with just one. Almost makes me understand those people who avoid graves. Not totally though as I will always maintain that the good memories of my Grandpa outweighs the pain of losing him.

Justin seemed to like the present I had gotten for him. After opening the presents and eating cake I went and visited Patches. She was being shy though because of all the strangers around.

Then I visited my calves and KC before hitting the road.

I finished listening to The Bad Place and it ended with some discussion about dreams, and whether or not they come true. Not so much dreams but goals and aspirations. I got to thinking that is probably behind my dissatisfaction with work lately. Im just putting in time. I dont have any goals or aspirations. Im not working towards anything. At one time the goal was home ownership but now Ive achieved it I haven't replaced it with any others. I need to do some more thinking about this. I know one dream I have is to have some land of my own near my Grandma and the J boys but there is no way to finance that dream.

Me Friday March 7, 2014 I'll be glad when I reach the spot in 2004 where I quit writing everyday!

I’m exhausted tonight. I almost bailed at cleaning the cats cages at Petsmart tonight. I would look at them and decide they were clean enough but of course I ended up at least giving a lick and a promise to all their cages. It was a full house too. Adrian, a yellow tom, is the smartest thing. I would toss a ball for him and he would fetch it just like a dog. My cat Oink used to do that. His favorite was a little purple ball. My current crop of cats would rather play with one another than with toys. Although Girl loves to give my feet rabbit punches every morning, and Pepe likes to chew on toes as I’m walking up the hallway to feed him. Every now and again Snoop finds a ball or a toy mouse and will play with it. Crazy cat doesn't he know he is the old man of the family!

Good Things I did for me

Leslie Sancome DVD

took my “recovery” day from working out

Gratitudes My bed!

Pictured Figaro, Oink and Pepe, and the birthday boy Justin.