It's all about....

.....perspective!!! That little life lesson was brought home to me on Friday. After an MD appointment at the Clarian North MOB/medical office building that is really part of the hospital I had gone to pick up a prescription and then ducked into the Atrio/restaurant to get a drink. I ran into an older gentleman from church and inquired about what brought him to the hospital, his wife Grace was a patient and will be needing surgery this week.

So, after getting my drink I trucked up to the 5th floor (my stomping ground) to visit Grace. It was perfectly lovely - she's very sweet, albeit forgetful, but, only a few months away from 90 or is it 89 - she's earned the right to be a little forgetful.

When I was leaving she thanked me - and told her husband and daughter what a 'sweet YOUNG woman' I was. So - OK....the sweet part is definitely up for debate....but I thought, YOUNG - are you kidding me?!?!?

Driving home I was still chuckling to myself about her remark - a sure sign I'm not even close to young! But then it hit me....at her age, 50 is 'young'....someone 40 years my junior would only be 10....a child, for heaven's sake!

So - the truth is true...it IS all about perspective!

A Day....

You know, there are some days you just want to be done with - and this would be one of them.

My day started with a modicum of dread - had a lunch meeting with someone I would not choose to break bread together with on any kind of regular basis....but it was/is church business, and the person is a church employee - so I can suck it up for the greater good..... So, lunch is progressing, the conversation is somewhat awkward and my cell phone rings...

I check the caller ID and know that "I know" the number....but can't place it....and decide I'll be rude and pick up the call. It was the brother-in-law calling from the ED at Clarian North....Sara is sick and in the ED - he needs to leave for class and doesn't want Amy stuck there alone. Well - it was "high oh Silver" for me, I was gone.

There is a reason I have never been, nor will ever be a pediatric nurse.....oh, there is nothing more tragic than a sick kid....and when it is a child you love - well, game, set, and match over! Sara seems to have something viral - and is still pretty puny.

After getting everyone home I got to go to the grocery, for the first time in three weeks....hey, I had to go - the milk was going bad, the bread was stale, and I didn't have any eggs!

Meeting at church tonight - home around 2000...

Yeah, I'm pretty much ready to close the chapter on this particular day.

The Sky Isn't Falling...

No, the sky isn't falling - it's just that wet stuff that we haven't seen in weeks and weeks...RAIN!!! Amy and I were driving north tonight, trying to get to a Mexican restaurant - and you would have thought there were 2 feet of snow on the ground, people had totally lost their mind with the rain.

A friend of mine recently told me it looked like an axe murderer had taken a swing at me, and missed...kind of, just grazed me!!! Well - it is an intentional cut....and I'm ready for it not to hurt and to heal - argh! But, it can make for some great 'black' humor!

Took Reginald to the vet this afternoon...he will be loosing his 'manhood' on Thursday - he knows something just isn't right! He's also going to be loosing his front claws....I'm about to spend a fortune on some new furniture, he's loosing his claws!

I'm so ready for fall time....should I end up going to the land of red creatures with long red tails and pitch forks for eternity, I'm pretty sure it is going to be like the weather we've had today...and many days for the last month. My car 'thermometer' said it was only 75 outside, but it felt like 90, with air you needed to slice through in order to breathe!

Things you never thought....

There are some things in life I've always been pretty sure I'd never say or do - for instance - bungee jumping, are you kidding me - my little corner of hell; or, take one more scholastic math class; and/or, be concerned about farming and farming issues.

Now, two outta three remain true and intact. However, recently while talking to my Uncle Paul - Dad's brother - I heard myself say five words I didn't know my brain could string together..."how are the soybeans doing...??!!??". Then a couple of nights ago CJ, Amy, and I had an impromptu 'estate meeting' - and there the three of us are talking about the price that corn is selling for....the world was spinning upside down for that brief moment!!!

Since Dad died, life has given all of us some new "learning opportunities" - as we liked to say in the medical arena....translation - we don't know what the hell we're doing or really how to do it....but, this is what it is - and we WILL figure it out, and we WILL be successful!!! Call it tenacity, or stick-to-itiveness, or just plain old Ketner stubbornness!!!

CJ and Amy are neck deep in attorneys, surveyors, auctioneers....I'm available on a 'need to know' basis on all this - and for Amy to vent when she is ready to throttle Aileen (aka: Big Red) the estate attorney....she's very good at what she does - but SHE knows it!!!

So, just another lesson in life about - NEVER say NEVER!