Looks Like I'll Be Leaving on a Jet Plane

Texts have been flying madly between my Washington sister, Maja, and I. She's the one in the know about what's happening with my brother's funeral since her companion is already out there, in the thick of it. She's also in touch with my brother's daughter, Rachel, who I haven't seen for years but who I've known since she was a small child. I started researching flights to South Dakota, thinking that if I couldn't be out for the full ceremonies, I would try to fly out for Saturday's funeral and burial. 

I don't fly often. I love being in the clouds, but hate sharing the experience
with a tin can stuffed with passengers. But, when time is short, a plane
becomes the only option. So, it's looking like a quick flight out and back
from South Dakota will be the way to go. 

As it turns out, Maja is flying into the Twin Cities before flying out to South Dakota on Friday. That's basically the schedule I was also looking at - flying out on Friday and back on Saturday night or Sunday morning. We'll text some more today, but if I can, I might try to synch my flight out with her. I need more information first, though. I'm still unsure about whether the ceremonies and funeral will be on the Reservation or in Rapid City. It makes a difference when it comes to hotel reservations. I'm a bit old for sleeping in the car, and it's starting to get cold overnight these days. 

Most people associate South Dakota with Mount Rushmore. It's quite
imposing and beautifully situated, and I've visited it several times over
the years, but that's not usually the focus of my visits to my neighboring
state. 

I have an emergency fund that I hold in reserve and I can dip into that for the expenses, but it will still be expensive. If I had the time, I'd drive out to save money, but it's a 13 hour drive each way, and that's time I just don't have. So, I'll have to dip into my savings and I don't see much of a choice. I'm thankful I have some funds set aside, and DH said he'd help me out too, so that'll be welcome. 

Over the past thirty years, when I've gone to South Dakota, I've
gone to the prairies east of the Black Hills, to the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation. One of the most beautiful places in the state,
and one of the most impoverished. The sign states:
Entering
Pine Ridge Reservation
Lake of the Oglala Sioux
Chiefs
Red Cloud
Black Elk
Crazy Horse
My family is Red Cloud. My Grandmother lived down the road
from the Tribal Chief on Red Cloud land. It's a proud name and heritage. 

So, it's looking as if I'll have the opportunity to deal with family dynamics in a stressful situation. Oh joy! But I'll also be able to say a proper "Good-bye" to my brother, and that's worth any and all of the aggravation that I anticipate, including having to deal with my brother's last wife - NOT on my "friends" list at all ... EVER. 

I'll be back tomorrow, Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel. 

Have a great Wednesday. I'll be running around like the proverbial "chicken with its head chopped off" today, lots and lots to get done. I plan on being back tomorrow, though, so I'll see you then - "Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel". 

Balance - The Good With The Bad - That's Life

I'm not a Shakespeare fan, but his quotations have immersed themselves into our daily thoughts and word combinations. Today when thinking about how to write my blog, this is the quotation that immediately came to mind: 

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead.

So, why this quote and why now? After all, I'm not at war, or am I? Actually, I am at war, as many/most of us are these days. I'm at war against identity theft. Many of you remember more than two years ago when DH's identity was stolen. They had everything - name, social security number, address - the whole nine yards. A road once walked can be walked again, and I guess it's my turn now, except I get the lite version. 

LifeLock is a benefit with several different things I subscribe
to, so I enabled it after our last breach in 2017. I'm glad
I did since they seem to have caught this right away. 

I got a notification from my LifeLock account yesterday that someone had attempted to set up a Best Buy credit card with my social security number. They didn't have my name or address, just the social, but I immediately logged on and started things rolling for an investigation. What a PITA. I don't think much will come of this, I've kept all of my alerts in place as well as my federal roadblocks, but it's still highly annoying and a bit worrisome. Since DH is in a "must get things done before X time (always shifting deadlines)," I decided to keep silent about this latest breach for the time being and just get things moving on my part ASAP. 

Family means many different things to people. I first met Maja when I
was still at my old location, so probably late 1980's, no later than
the early 1990's. She moved to Washington state in the early
1990's and started her own life journey over at that time, but
she's a dear friend and sister, probably always will be. 

Yesterday was a really nice morning too, though, starting with the unexpected arrival of my "nephews" Dan and Ben from Washington state. They apparently had flown into town for a quick trip to attend their cousin's wedding and were heading back out to the airport. I got to catch up a bit, and just before they headed out, my "sister" Maja and her SO, Solo arrived, so as the boys left, I had a chance to catch up with one of the very special people in my life. That was a total joy and really made my day. 

Hidden gems are so often there, we just have to be ready
and willing to move some stone to find the flash. Even though
there were a lot of negatives about yesterday, the positives
shone through and made my day a happy one. 

So not all is lost, and not all is bad. Things can be (and often are) hidden gems just waiting to surprise with happy things. Oh - and my breakfast was paid for by two ladies I often see at my restaurant. Over the years, we've exchanged buying breakfast for each other - always unexpected and as an impulse. Their kindness was very appreciated yesterday. 

So bad things, balanced by good things. That's how life operates. Choose which side of the fence you want to stand on - I'll stick with the side of sunshine, relatively blue skies, and positive outlooks. Have a great Tuesday and I'll return tomorrow. (I have no idea why the paragraphs are indenting, but so it seems to be working today. *sigh*) 

Looking Forward to a Great Sunday

I was already looking forward to my Sunday at the Renaissance Festival - it is Highland Weekend, so I'll have lots of Men in Kilts to look at (pause for happy sigh), I'll be watching the Caber Toss, and I'll happily sit in the Special Events field for hours just watching the games. Guiness, kilts and the caber toss - it just doesn't get much better than that. But....it DID!

I just LOVE watching the caber toss...

Because...late yesterday afternoon I heard a familiar voice from the front room and there was my "sister", "nephew" and his girlfriend. My sister lives in San Antonio, Texas, my nephew and his girlfriend live in Washington state and I haven't seen him for several years. What a delight. And...it turns out that they were planning to go to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday. So, I'll not only have men in kilts, I'll have my wonderful extended family-by-choice to spend some of the day with. Squeeeeee!

Of course, I am behind in my writing again/still/etc., but I'm giving myself this week to get my "vacation" out of my system and then I'm settling down to some serious work. I'm determined. I have people who are counting on me and I can't let them down. Letting myself down happens periodically, but I refuse to do that to other people. So...keep the faith, Lai. I'm getting to you on Monday night!

Black Friday and Super Saturday

I have a love/hate relationship with shopping. I really don't enjoy shopping very much. But I don't mind shopping on-line - I just don't really like dealing with the crowds, the wasted time, and the sensory stimulus that shopping at the mall throws at me. So I avoided Black Friday and just started catching up with my Emails and fanfic websites.

I need to get a few things purchased for the holidays. I'm making most of the things that I am sending to my BFF Sharon and my friend Chickie, and if I have time and the ability to whip something out quickly, I may send a little something to my friend Poo and my "sister" Maja, but those two are not "essential". My DH is essential, and he is the only person that I actually will need to do a bit of shopping for.

I think I've pretty well nailed what I will get him for the holidays, though. I'll get some gift cards, and after an extensive search, I think I finally found the perfect woolen fabric for his short cloak that he asked for. Since he doesn't want it lined, it will go together quickly. He wanted it embroidered, but for that he'll have to wait - I'm still working on my own cloak for the embroidery part and that needs to be finished first. But after I get my replacement credit card in the mail next week, I can get the wool ordered from Canada and start working on his cape. I'm pleased that I found the fabric - I've been looking for more than two months for the perfect weave.

One More Day - AACCKK!!!!

My Holiday cards are almost ready to mail - just less than 12 to go for personal messages and they will be sealed, stamped and mailed. My packages for Sharon, Poo and Maja will be mailed on Wednesday (they would have been mailed today but I forgot their addresses and my Palm at the shop overnight so I don't have the address sheet that I wanted to bring home with me after all - silly me!). At the last minute, we have decided to do an after-Christmas sale, so that's one more thing that I need to get going on. If we're not too busy at the shop today, I can probably get addresses entered into the Email database during the day. And I did find and purchase the single gift I am getting for my DH after a delightful dinner with Michelle (thanks for a fun evening, girlfriend!!) last evening. I'm hanging onto the receipt - this one may end up being returned or exchanged.



So, in my own stumbling way, I guess I'm slowly getting there. But not entirely. Wednesday will be EXTREMELY hectic. I need to get the gift card for my Father-in-law, pick up the Honey Baked Ham (mmmmmmmm - yummy!!), finish and wrap DH's medallion gifts, get the certificates that I am giving him all assembled and packed, and still be at the store no later than 2:30 so that we can do our own gift exchange before we close for Christmas. Just too much to do, but I'll be able to sleep in on Christmas morning. That will be a Christmas gift that I relish receiving :-))

He Likes It!!

OK, my DH is my staunchest supporter and my harshest critic all at the same time. He is the master of the backhanded compliment that can sometimes really floor me and destroy my creativity. So...I was a bit reluctant to show him the finished enameled jewelry items that I had made for my friends for their Holiday gifts. I like them - I think they turned out really nicely...but I was unsure about his reaction. But he liked them - he was very complimentary. Even though he said that he never worried about my beadwork, that anything I made with beads was always excellent. But that in my jewelry, he loved my dancer (see picture below) but was often less than thrilled with my other jewelry/fabrication efforts. So...to have him love my enamel items really thrilled me.



I finished Sharon and Poo's items yesterday, as well as beaded snowflakes for my sister-in-law. I'll try to photo these quickly today or tomorrow so that I can send them on Monday. I have a small assembly job to do this morning for Michelle's gift and Maja's gift. Since I have no idea on where Maja is spending the holidays, I'll send them to her Texas address, but I'm not in a major rush. And then my holiday cards - if I'm really lucky they'll go out on Xmas Day. And I still need to finish up my DH's gifts - but I can do that Tuesday and Wednesday. Whew!! Nothing like cutting it close :-)))