Update. Still here.

 The smoke around our place is just over the top.  The air quality is at 453 right now.  The scales top measurement is 500.  We basically are breathing toxic crap at this point.  Both Husband and I have allergies, so we have an air purifier, thankfully. Basically, we are sitting in our living room, with it on 24/7.  When I go out to feed, I wear my only N95 mask.  Don't know how long it will help, since I am reusing it a lot, but it's better than coughing myself silly.

Checking on family in Level 2 (get ready to leave) area, so far no one has had to jump and run.  Haven't heard from family in the Level 3 (GO NOW!) area, been checking Red Cross information, will try some other stuff and see what happens.  

Trying not to "doom scroll" but it isn't easy, when almost all the things I look at are giving updates, and a lot of them are not so great. On the good side, though, there is a Cowboy Convoy moving feed, animals and supplies.  I am donating some leads and halters from when I  had my llamas.  I have to keep out of things as much as possible, my Dad will be having surgery later, and I will be driving.  So I can't be around doing anything more than necessary, so I don't end up sick.  So much fun...

Then, just for general chaos and craziness, one of my hens had chicks, and more or less rejected them. So, you guessed it, we have new tanker chicks!  I don't know how many are going to make it, but, we will have quite a few, if all this goes okay.  Presently, we are okay.  We have things packed to go, in case, but are just staying put and keeping watch.  

 Sorry for the downer post, I wish I could just say all is dandy, but we are in a holding pattern here.  Guess that's better than a crash landing, however...

Long journeys, ending, starting, going.

So. I have been away for the whole month of September, and the majority of October.

Whatta flake, right?

Why, yes, er, no.  Sort of?

September is my super busy month.  This one was no exception...  Just looking at my calendar, I had about ten days when I was home, all day, in the month.  I will admit some of the items were of my choosing, (looove me some book sales!), but a lot were getting things ready for events, going to events, and then coming home from events.  I did cut back on what I did at one event, which I will cover in another blog, but I still had to prep, and clean up when I returned.

Then I got the sniffles after.  I didn't think much of it, just broke out the Vitamin C, and tried to wash my hands.  Got word that Grandma was fading, and that things were starting to not work right for her.  I decided to get over there when I felt better.  But, there were two or three more small meetings and such... Then Husband got sick.  I had the sniffles, what he got was BAD.  Down for three or four days bad.  So, I made chicken soup, forced Vitamin C down him, and went on my way.  He finally recovered...

And then I was blessed with the crud.  I was down for better than a week, and even had to call in sick to my one volunteer day at the sub.  Bless her, I said "hello" on the phone, and my 'boss' piped up, "You sound like crap!"  (Good call, Mistress Obvious.)  I had a continuing cough after that, and didn't know if I was contagious or not, so I didn't go see Grandma.

Well, she died just a day or so ago.  I did get to see her before this whole thing started, and chatted with her when she was having a 'fairly good' day.  She knew who I was, didn't know what season it was, and was surprised that I had something to do with the Sheriff's Office.  Still, I enjoyed the talk, and walked her to the dining room, and left her to her supper.

I guess, if nothing else, at least I have a good memory to think of, at the end.

And, I am going to be giving up one volunteer job, (not the one at the sub), and am getting a handle on what I am doing, and if I want to continue doing...  Let's just say, I have had a bit of time to think, and some conversations that lead me to believe I need to make some changes.

But I am still loving to blog.  And so, that, my dear blog friends, will continue.  (And I will get about to reading your blogs, too.  Of late, the phone has been my computer, and for some reason, I haven't figured out how to get it to post on blogs... Odd.)

The rest of the story, Mr. Chatterbox!

During the A to Z challenge, Mr. Chatterbox mentioned he'd like to to hear about what this blog entry mentioned about my Brother in Law.

So.  Husband has two brothers, and middle brother was, well, unique.  And Husband was the sitter for the two boys, until Mom got home.  Well, as is the case with younger siblings, Husband, being the oldest, found the younger ones to be a pain in the butt.

Husband told me that he would indeed keep an eye on the other two, like his Mom told him to.  Mostly he told them to go outside, and not bother him.  Most of the time, this was fine... Until one afternoon when Mom arrived home at just the perfect time. Or the worst, depending on how you look at it.

Husband was sitting on the couch, reading, and his mom rolled up, walked in the door, and started to ask him where the boys were.  He had his nose in a book, and they both looked up in time see out the large window in the back.

Brother in Law had a football helmet on, and was running full speed at a half grown bull calf, that had lowered his head, and was just getting ready to charge.

Mom screamed, cow and boy had a meeting of the minds, sort of, and Husband looked up, then went back to his book.  She turned and railed, "Why are you letting him DO this?"

Husband's logic?  "But Mom, he's not bugging me, and they both enjoy it..."

Mom, for some strange reason, didn't seem to like that answer.

Can't imagine why...  And this story sure explained a LOT about my Brother in Law.

E is for Eats.

Food seems to be a "thing" in our family.  I was thinking about it recently.

Grandpa E would cook the major meals most times, I remember him making roast duck, potatoes, things like that for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  He also taught me to like really "non-kid" food, pig's feet, capers, real oddball stuff...

Grandma E would always amaze me, we would show up at the house, and it just seemed like mere seconds, fried chicken, potato salad, or fry bread would show.   I know in my head that that wasn't possible, but it always seemed to be that way.  I remember one breakfast, we made toast.  She had this six bread slot toaster, and did we make toast!  There were several family members that came over, and Grandma toasted, I buttered, Mom was setting the table, getting jams, jellies, honey, all that out.  When we finished, there must have been at least a 2 foot high stack of toast.  I think it was gone in about 15 minutes or so.  Not counting the two that I snuck out during the buttering process...

My mom has always struck me as the MacGyver of dinner making.  I sometimes think if she had half a lemon, a taco shell, and three peanuts, we would have something wonderful by chow time.  I know that more than once, I forgot to tell her about a snack day at school, (something I found out is no longer allowed at that same school because of allergies...), and she was still able to come up with frosted graham crackers, apple and orange slices, juices, all sorts of neat things.  Even if she did seem to be a tad twitchy, and check the papers I brought home a little more closely.

One of the funniest memories, Mom made gingerbread cookies to match each student in the class, green eyes and red hair, or what have you, would have a cookie frosted to look the same.  Several hours later, they were ready to go.  To this day, Mom just sounds so disgusted when she says, "10 minutes!  Every last crumb, GONE, in ten minutes!" (I am surprised she wasn't impressed that I didn't filch mine beforehand...)

I think about one of the get-togethers I had with some of the younger members of Husband's family.  We "had" to go to a certain restaurant, and the kids would "ONLY" eat x thing.

How sad for them...

But, hey, more for me!   (Anyone up for toast?)

Motivation for next month's blogging... 26 days worth, anyway.

I did last year an "A through Z" blog.  I think I will try that again for next month.  It works out that you basically blog each day except Sunday.  I might have to work hard to do this, as next month sounds a little busy, but I need to really commit to writing again.

 Blog, book, what have you, I have not...  Not good.

Especially now with Baby Hal, it is much easier to do (most) things.  I still have some strange moments, like when B. Hal decided to increase the magnification on the screen to G*d knows how big (there was one or two HUGE letters on the screen, from a web page full of writing...), and also locking up the mouse once or twice, but that seems to have stopped for the most part.  I found out my rubber bracelet drives Hal nuts occasionally, the mouse reacts to the band much like my finger, for whatever reason, leading me to desperate clicks to find what I have accidentally brought up or removed.  Other than removing said band, I haven't quite found a cure for that one.

I have finally pulled all the tomatoes out of the garden.  I felt like it wasn't a complete waste, but I felt bad taking the stuff out.  It wasn't going to grow much more, and I was afraid that if I left them in, I would lose track of the cages, and we would have a repeat of Husband nearly impaling himself on one when he rototilled.
(Husband was fine.  The cage was terminal...)

I am so horribly disappointed with the cages I bought this year.  I was sold cages that were supposed to be heavy duty, and galvanized.  Well, they were galvanized.  That much was true.  Heavy duty, my fat fanny!  Heavy duty tinfoil, maybe.  EVERY ONE fell over, all of them warped and bent, and several lost the prongs on the bottom that drive them into the ground.  I am going to give them away to the first person that I can pawn them off on.  Next year, I will go back to using T posts... Or hog fencing with ties.  Hmph.

In other news, I have a family member not doing so well, she is in one of those elder apartments, and became very ill.  Turns out, she has been having problems remembering to take pills, and some other 'stuff' going on, so the family has finally sat her down for a talk that she needs to go to the assisted side of the apartments.  She is not really happy about this, but she is getting to the point she needs more help than the occasional look-see by family members.  It will work out, but she is in her 90's, and rather... proud of her mental strength, so she is sort of taking this a bit hard.  We all are trying to let her know it's not a failing, it's just to keep her healthy and safe.  (I think maybe she is starting to agree, but time will tell).

I am going to be taking an online class, this should be interesting.  It's a class on chronic pain management.  I have been doing okay, in that area, but I still have times when I am not able to do, or cope well, and I hope to maybe get some perspective that I might not have thought of.  Besides, then I can tell my gripes and complaints to someone who hasn't heard it several times before! (wink)

And lastly, on a funny note:
I think Rudee understands English better than I give him credit for!

I was walking, and for some odd reason, right after I had gotten a good pace going, and built up a good head of steam, Rudee walks right in front of me.  And stops.  I walk around him, start up again, then he does it again!  The third time, he wanders slowly, blocking me.  I was getting rather annoyed by this point, and told him, "Move, or I am going to stick this pole up your a**!"

Next thing I know, he's turned, looked at me with wide eyes, and gets out of my way, walking waaay over to the left, and not daring to walk in front of me.

Smart dog...

Good things... And feeling really newbie.

The old computer has nearly had it.  I have tried my best to get all the 'glitches' out of it, but I suspect, between operator error and just plain it-was-bought-used, it was sort of on borrowed time.  I was borrowing Husband's computer to check my email, and otherwise, not doing much.  It would overheat, I think it may have some hardware problems, definitely had some software problems, and absolutely had operator problems. (Just ask Husband...)

So, Husband had been doing some of his horse trading, and came up with some funds.  He told me to get a computer THAT WORKED...  I will have to save up for a couple things I would like (MS Office, that sort of thing), but it works!  I also know that I better run the wheels off this thing, so to speak, this wasn't a planned expense, and while he didn't begrudge me getting it, I think he would have liked to do something else with the money.  But, I have the computer, and it works.

Now I just have to figure out how to use it.  It has Windows 7, and I don't quite know where anything is, or how to access it if I want something, and setting up the email has been interesting.  I know that I probably could do brain surgery as easily as I did putting in the email.  (Let's just say, I finally handed Husband the computer, and sat quietly.  He figured out I made no major mistakes, but I did, as usual, make enough to make the thing not work.  Of course...)

And.  Hmm.  I suppose I won't divulge names.

I have 2 members of my family going through some medical 'stuff'.  If I could have good thoughts for them, I would most truly appreciate it.  And for my parents and myself, who are in "hurry up and wait" mode.

So, if any of you get messages from me, it will be a sign that I am starting to make friends with my computer.

I am planning to name the thing, so I will have to figure out some fun thing for that on the blog.

 (The name Hal need not apply...)