expectations

today i bought my first selection of adult incontinence products. two trips so two cashier moments. i kept expecting that the cashier and i would have a kind of moment. you know, a sort of knowing commiseration. i don't know why i thought that would happen. but it didn't. i could have been buying hamburgers or toilet cleaner. i, however, now know that that product aisle is as replete with choices as feminine hygiene.

Let's just say

...aging is not for the faint of heart.
And while we're at it, let's just say that this part of Colorado isn't either. Wow. It's rural and conservative. Stopped at Murdochs (which looks like a sort of Home Depot) and does sell all that kind of stuff, but also has an impressive selection of gun safes, equine corraling, training and feed products, large compressors (i don't actually know what one is - but the pictures suggest that once you have one of these babies you can run your power tools in remote places for hours) and so on. I had to pick up some screws for the deck replacement project that Brent began and Craig is to finish. There is so much maintenance to do and no one up to doing it anymore. Sam may get to experience a ride on mower before the weekend is out.

traveling home help

we are off tomorrow to spend the long weekend caring for Craig's mother who fell recently and fractured her tailbone. His dad went to see his brother in Florida a couple of weeks ago and while there had a heart attack so isn't back yet. Not a serious heart attack - we did just see pictures of them deep sea fishing a few days later -- but he is enjoying different medical care and a change of scene and seems in no rush to leave. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law bought herself a puppy right before her fall and among other things she cannot do is house train it... Should be a fun four days. Depending on the grim factor, may or may not post pictures...

The Real Desert

People always say we live in a desert here. We are admonished not to over water etc. But just back from Tucson which is real desert. Beautiful. Would love to see it when it is in full bloom. Here are some pictures.





Then again, things like this land on you:

evening picnic

Headed up our local canyon for an impromptu picnic and campfire this evening. Here are some pictures.

a new delight

Many of us are familiar with the torturous thing known in gym circles as the "foam roller". It is supposed to be wonderful for massaging out knots in muscles - it is excruciatingly painful to actually do.




Today I experienced a thai massage which is just a human foam roller. Since you don't have any control, you succumb to the pain and feel remarkably energized at the end of 90 torturous minutes.



Imagine lying on a mattress on the floor and having yourself kneaded and squeezed and bent into postures by a incredibly strong and compact woman. There you have it. Heaven (via hell).

A prize to

the person who correctly identifies this object: