Briefly, I’ll start with telling you that it has now been over a year since I had to leave the farm. Court dates remain interesting and bizarre. I keep thinking this will end soon, but I no longer hold that hope. That’s okay; it has to end eventually.
I’ve started walking again a couple days a week at Claremore Lake now that the weather is warming up. It’s taking my joints some time to adjust but I’ll get there with that too.
I’ve had a wonderful time getting to spend some time with my older grandchildren. My oldest, Joseph is coming around and I have truly enjoyed getting to know him a little better. He is a very private person and the fact that he chooses to spend time with the family again is heartwarming. Kinzie and her fiance, Lakota swing through frequently and I’m very grateful for that too as their lives are changing dramatically. I’ll get to that later.
I have been able to spend time with beautiful friends from church. We have lunch together a couple of times a month and laughter is a main course of our meals together. One evening a couple of us went to Moore’s Fish Farm. They are only open two days a month and it is very crowded but the food was very tasty as fried fish, pulled pork and all the fixings are set out buffet style. I love good fried fish–and pulled pork.
I did manage to get a hike in on a warm day, the last day of February. It was wonderful to take in some nature. I have missed it terribly. Skull Hollow Hike at Hawthorne Bluff on a Warm Winter Day can be seen here.
One of the reasons I was ready to get out into nature is I have had some trouble with depression. This bizarre divorce has been weighing me down and I occasionally succumb to the weight. Gratefully, the depression is not deep and doesn’t last very long.
Just in the past few days, I learned that Kinzie and Lakota have made the decision to not finish their studies at college this semester. They have taken a position with the restaurant they work for that will send them to various restaurant locations, helping with staffing and training. Their first location was Grand Forks, North Dakota, but was quickly changed to New Mexico. They are excited and, deep down, I’m happy for them. My heart hurts to see my girl go, but I truly love to see her happy. She is very happy. What more could I ask? Now is the time to do something exactly like this, before they settle down and have children, so they have my blessing.
The weather has been an interesting ride, bouncing to ninety degrees and then down to the teens just days later–only to rebound again. Those several days of rain that were forecasted produced disappointing results and we still need rain. The volunteer fire department that is just across the street from the house has been quite busy as we are in yet another fire weather warning.
My job is in the process of taking an interesting turn. The mayor and his wife are moving out of state and we will have to appoint another mayor until the next election. This has already brought the old guard out and we ended up hiring a sheriff’s deputy to attend the last town meeting to keep things civil. There is a lot more I need to learn and I’m not sure that I’m ready to be in charge of some of the things I will be required to do. Time will tell. Honestly, I think I’ll do okay, I’m just apprehensive about it, and I know I’ll make mistakes.
My housemate (she prefers that we call each other neighbors) has had some very interesting, long-winded conversation with google that has had me laughing so hard that my ribs hurt. At one point, I suddenly realized that she thought she was talking to a live person all along and did not know that she was talking to a computer. She was surprised but it didn’t deter her. She openly admits that she will be arguing with google, sometimes to the point of anger. That is when I need to realize that she is angry and not giggle anymore. Life stays interesting around here.
We did have a tornado warning here a couple of weeks ago. I got the notice on my phone so Terrye and I got settled into the hallway. When the siren across the street went off, I was suddenly aware that might have been my job to set it off and I didn’t even think of it. I am the one who has to test it every Wednesday, but the mayor did it like he usually does. I had better be more diligent about remembering it when he leaves. Thankfully, we were all okay and safe here.
After another hike at a nearby location, I posted Posted Signs of Spring at The Trails at Collinsville Lake. I’m really enjoying these easy hikes in the woods. That video can be seen here.
I have started another podcast. The quotes and scriptures I post on the various platforms are combined with a devotional passage. What used to be called Growth is now Faith Fuel. It is still recorded as a video and posted on several platforms but I also make an audio only version for those who do not wish to sit down and watch it in video form. The goal is to publish those three days a week.
Doing cooking videos for Grandma’s Homestead channel has been a challenge. At the house, the upper burner in the oven is not working well so I can’t get a good brown on anything I bake. At the Fellowship Hall, it is undergoing a major remodel and that building is a mess right now and the noise does not facilitate recording videos. I did attempt a video for another Laura Ingalls Wilder recipe. It turned out okay, but I’m definitely looking foward to having a good place to record my cooking videos. Golden Pork Chops can be seen here.
Because I was concerned about my income being combined with Tom’s for tax purposes, I delayed getting them done. I did finally go to a tax preparer, even though my taxes were relatively easy. But, like I said, I didn’t know if the fact that we were still going through a divorce would hurt me. It did not. The cost of getting them done did hurt though. I was not prepared to pay $250 for thirty minutes of work. I believe that next year, I’ll be able to figure it out myself. We’ll see. There’s plenty of time before we go down that road again.
Well, you’re caught up again. Spring in Oklahoma is always interesting and there is always something going on in my life, too. The next court date is days away. We’ll just have to see out that goes. See you next time!