Sleepless in almost Seattle (Spanaway if you must know)

  I get up and empty the dishwasher, and then pay some bills and decide to go back to bed, so much accomplished in the quiet darkness of the full home.

   Picked up my nephew and his wife at SeaTac, they travel light, only three carry-ons. Our plans are for Mount Rainier on Thursday, Seattle on Friday, and Vancouver BC on Saturday.

  It has been fun to watch my wife talk almost nonstop.

The week is almost over...

   I was feeling good about my control until Wednesday afternoon, when I decided that I didn't know for sure that I had sent in the mortgage payment.  When returning home, I remembered to check, found that I hadn't and made it good. Went to Awana Club and provided some adult representation and enjoyed the vigorous happy children. Every day except Sunday I have gone to the YMCA for my exercise, often recalling how I wondered at Greeks and Romans that would go to exercise, sweat, clean and oil up every day in the good old days.

   I think that I will vote, casting all ballots tomorrow and getting them all into the mail and off of my desk.  Clean up needs to continue.  We are hosting visitors from Korea, my nephew and his wife, they are coming to visit her family in Vancouver - But I still have no idea if that is Washington or British Columbia, but we meet them at the airport on Wednesday. I will be busy and my wife anxious - the first time her family of any generation has bothered to stop by. It will all be well, I already removed the moss from the tool shed. Will have to stop and shoot some tomorrow, after the YMCA, have to keep trying to get better.

Just a short week ago on an island far, far away...

    The Air Force delivered forty-six passengers safely on Thursday night, and I was met by my son and grandchildren and the good stuff just got better from there. Friday was my son's golf game then swimming practice with the grandchildren (theirs, I never got wet that afternoon). Saturday was the swimming lessons, one on one, for the grandchildren then lunch and going to Sea Life Park. Sunday was Easter Service at Roosevelt High School with hamburgers and stuff after. Then I finally went swimming with everyone in the heated saltwater pool of the condos. What a great time, Monday morning was going out to fly a kites and ride bikes at the local park. I got my kite all the way to the end of its string, very nice wind. Then back home for a fair well lunch to say good bye as my son was dropping me off at the airport on his way back to work, his leave being over.

   I was still happy and smiling days and days after returning, so much so my wife mentioned I should go to Hawaii more often. The place is full of nice people, interesting folks and good memories built until the next time.

Break free, go to Hawaii...

  Notice the decided lack of blogging or intelligent word flow in my internet life... do I have an internet life any longer? I am watching way too many movies, foreign and old school stuff, and the best improvement in my life is something called Activ Trax at the YMCA which is building me into a fine figure of a fat old man, but I do enjoy finding muscles that one has never used to aid in the 'death by recliner' and think in a couple of months I may be prepared for bikini season, which never ever has been about me, but what I can see. There are a few really high school looking types reporting on important news items, but I can't take them seriously because they have no wisdom wrinkles - and they don't talk like they have a message.  Hmm, I might be confusing them with the children at church, but the children at church are having much more fun. Being a Holy week I have no responsibilities for Sunday school or the AWANA, so sneaking off to Hawaii sounds like a fine thing to dream about and mentally prepare for.  Now where is that badge of courage, to impel the little old man out the door and into the sky?

If you are paying attention, you don't have enough to do..

  The point has come that the media is using its 1st Amendment protections to try and destroy the 2nd Amendment.  I kind of laugh about that, since the godless government wants to stomp upon the religious right and rights. But it does all seem to be coming to a convergence and the storm isn't going to be pretty and the destruction savage - because too many people will be looking for heroes and saviors and soothing elevator music. We know we are living in a fantasy world, like the folks from the Great Depression, go to the movies and have a laugh, see how wonderful life could be and should be... all smoke and mirrors.

  I listened to President Obama present his nominee for the Supreme Court, and cynical me thought that this is likely the best Republican choice that he could have made, Judge Bork being way too old. I also tried to imagine Bernie Sanders, Hillary Rodham Clinton, or Donald Trump giving the same presentation -- I couldn't see any of those rising to the level of past Presidents. 

Well, time to finish my coffee and head to the YMCA, using ActivTrax to program me into a fine figure of a fat old man. There could be potential, and I do like to record my progress - OCD is my fool characteristic, which I will address right after I conquer my procrastination.

How did my Sunday worship go? armed and dangerous... sometmes I can be cool

   I woke from a dream about the military as a younger man, which I hope to write about later since it has much to do with how my day went.  First Sunday of the month, make bed, shave and have a breakfast as I watch Sunday on CBS, Jane Pauly's legs are thinner than I remember from her younger years. She was talking to a famous actress I can't remember the name of, but I do remember the movies she got big credit for and a lot that I haven't seen.

   Time to dress, want to remember to carry my tools and still look good, so I get the fresh ironed shirt, and then the last suit I bought, with suspenders. Put it on, with a black tie, tied in a Windsor knot. I am so fat, sighs the man in the mirror, but there is room for not imprinting. So find the dress shoes, start the car and listen to that new noise and my wife and I are off to the church.  After church go to the Fellowship Hall for checking my English Ministry personal data, giving them my email address. I have a doughnut and talk then off to finish the new comers class, great discussions. We will get certificates of completion next week or so.

   Back to the Fellowship Hall, along the way meeting a confident young man munching on an egg roll, and I stop and ask how he is, he says fine and says people tell him he is cute. I assure him that he will outgrow that, and he mentions he still has baby teeth, and I nod sagely and say they will disappear, too. So we go into the almost empty Fellowship Hall except for children's Sunday school classes out a bit early to buy some food to nibble upon. And the teacher that has been taking my class because he is a good man is there and happily gives me back the teachers books and fills me in on where they are. I walk over and talk to Caleb and his buddies, mostly young boys looking for leadership in boy stuff, and I figure Caleb is providing that pretty well. I ask about what they are eating, how much they like it (very Korean food) and they tell me. Even showing me how to dip the the fish dough into the cups of soup... learning always learning.

   The last service, which is Korean language, is over and the main congregation shows up to buy food to support the cause and talk over before they go home or back to the store or restaurant. The first two ladies in are in their twenties and drop dead gorgeous, luckily I remember that I am glad we are on the planet at the same time, but I am the fat old guy with really thinning hair. Now there had been dangerous looking man in English language service but nothing happened. During this fellowship, lots of people moving, buying, eating and socializing.  Suddenly tension breaks out, and Mike is getting ready to deck someone - he comes back to his seat fuming and raging. Seems someone isn't doing what he should, isn't listening and the police might have to be called.  I say a quick prayer after looking to see who the problem is... okay, got it. So I get up, pass him by and talk to the young people around Caleb cause he is about to move out to the playground with his groupies or gang - friends, really. Then I stop in the Men's room, washed my hands and came back and pulled the seat out beside the problem turned mine around so there isn't anything between him and I.  And I say hello, how is it going?, nice group of folks isn't it? looking around at the busy moving socializing going on.  I ask if he liked being here today, was he going to come back next week? I told him they were waiting to take him back to the shelter, where upon he said he didn't want to go with that man, and I grabbed Harold's arm and said he must be a fearsome fellow to offend such a nice man. Harold laughed, former Special Forces type, and then I asked his wife if she were driving.  She said yes, and so I asked the problem person if he would go with her driving, and he said yes. So I thanked him and patted him on the shoulder and told him to come back next week.  Then I went back to my chair since my wife had purchased some food for me and when I got back Mike wanted to know what I had done that made the problem person cooperate and leave with the van. Mike will be reflecting on it for the week, since he is younger and much more aggressive than I, it will be good for him.

     We did a little guy talk about one thing or another and then I decided to share the dream, now everyone has military dreams (not talking about nightmares, just dreams) so when I told them that I was dreaming that there was a woman in my unit, in my dream, and she had decided to challenge and compete with me - they understood immediately when I said 'and no way is she going to win'. Mainly because that is what young soldiers do - with all their competitors, even best friends. She was going to go down hard as I could take her.  And if you are going to be my friend you have to struggle to put me in the dirt and rub my nose in it, no quarter until you say uncle or tap out.  I heard they don't teach life that way any longer, one has to remove his combat patch to not threaten the un-bloodied new guys and gals.

  Ah well, I feel heroic, and I so not. Still I have returned to the safety of my home, Netflix and movie madness, and good looking comfortable 3XL stuff that I could wear three or four weapons under. They will be outlawing hoodies one day.

Ides of March, when Ceasar fell to fury....