Had a long day today – Fox channel 10 here in Phoenix did a remote at the store and we were out bright and early to get a representative sampling of the toy tester events set up for “background”. Here’s the video (I don’t know how long the video will stay up, so enjoy it while you can) – see if you can pick out a former Marine being helpful and watchful…

Then, I get home, eat dinner, watch CSI and The Mentalist (taped versions, since we’re about two weeks behind anything live) and I check my e-mail. Opened this one, and about died laughing, only because the Air Force never really had any kind of sense of humor when I dealt with them. Maybe it was just me?

Air Force Chief of Staff: Mr. President, we have perfected an invisibility cloak for Air Force One.
Obama: Really? That’s amazing!
Air Force Chief of Staff: Yes sir, it is. Will you be going on her maiden cloaked flight?
Obama: Wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Air Force Chief of Staff: Have a nice trip, sir.

Now, it’s time for bed. I’m tired! Working all day, laughing all night…

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

So – Friday, after the show, I’m ambushed by a whole line of things that need to be accomplished. In the process, I forget to make my customary Red Friday post, and for that I apologize to those who look forward to it.

Friday evening, I spend three hours on the waiting list for a cab. Never did get one. So, I went to the meeting at the Black Canyon Railroad instead, and had a good operating session.

Saturday was a yard sale at a friends house, and we put several items in the sale. Sold a few, but not all, and got some walking-around money.

Saturday evening I did get a cab, and had a good night overall. Found a nifty little back way into Wrigley Mansion, and the guards were good enough to let me up to the main entrance, even though no traffic was allowed since the shuttle was running for the charity event.

Sunday, after a short nap (about an hour and a half, on top of the hour nap I took Saturday afternoon) we went to church and, after church, met some friends at the Arizona Science Center to take in the Narnia exhibit (it was the last day). All in all, a very enjoyable exhibit. Being in the camp of people who would rather NOT do things in a crowd, I was feeling rather crowded. I did manage to ignore my gut reaction to RUN and stuck it out to see the costumes from the movie, as well as the props and some miniatures from the movie. Overall, a must-see when it is in your town. I particularly enjoyed the “ice throne” and remarked that I wouldn’t mind having one in my living room.

After the Science Center, we all went to Applebee’s for dinner. By that time, I was operating on 3 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours, and I was quickly running out of gas. I am told by a reliable source that I managed to fall asleep during lulls in the after-dinner conversation. The same reliable source decided (all by herself) that it would be better if she drove us home. I would have agreed, but had fallen asleep in the back seat after buckling MEG into her carseat.

How was your weekend?

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

MEG update: Her temperature has been under 101.5 since Tuesday afternoon. She is on a new (meaning different), stronger antibiotic that is knocking down her double ear infection. She needs lots of hugs and love, so we’re kinda busy in that department.

Blogrolling appears to still be on the fritz, so it may be slow going for the round up.

Gawfer is helping to spread the word about the extreme left’s attack on Congresswoman Michele Bachmann after her visit to MSNBC’s Hardball on Friday night produced some of the most twisted and out-of-context sound bites ever.

ACORN has issues – and they are showing up in Clark County, Nevada, according to an article on cookiecrumbexpress.

Cube has found what could possibly be the last honest Democrat. (link in article is slow – be patient – keep trying)

Cyber Pastor has a fine table posted, comparing the two main-party candidates for POTUS on his blog, Do The Right Thing.

The historic French footage of John McCain as POW in an interview is posted on Blackfive. If you have translation abilities, could you please help me work through the overdub? My hearing is weird, and while I can pick out occasional words from McCain and the interviewer, the louder overdub overwhelms my auditory input.

Gateway Pundit makes note of how quickly Palin rallies fill up in comparison with (and direct contrast to) the weeks of work required to get people to attend an Obama gathering. Plus, no opening act for Sarah…

Old Soldier has the Wednesday Hero posted. Look further down for another hero – one with more than one hundred medals.

Ol’ Broad is having computer issues. Many are helpful, some are entertained.

GuyK is having a slow start this morning. I love the older folk on computers. They are so darned entertaining.

Brother Johnny introduces the “Wizard of OZ” defense for the Obamanation on Amazed In His Presence.

Shhh – there’s a Goldfinch at the feeder… on Richard’s At The Water.

RattlerGator whets our appetite for upcoming specials and points out some nice tidbits.

Bushwack reminds us of what a REAL leader looks like and talks like on American and Proud.

The Chief has a picture of Obamarx. Also a reminder: 25 years ago today, the Marine Barracks at Beirut was attacked. 241 Americans were killed that day. (side note – part two of “Lessons From Beirut” tomorrow morning, 0700 MST, at The O Word)

Alaska Steve passes on word about the Katmai, and shares his hike to Ugadaga Bay on A Sense of Place.

Talk about something that should be shared with the whole country – The Bull has that in spades.

Some humor from the Grumpy Old Attitudinal Texan, Fred. (heh heh!)

There is talk of a “righteous wind” over in the Jungle.

Bloviating Zeppelin points out that even if Obama would meet with certain countries without preconditions, those countries have preconditions for US.

Mary’s World recently cleared the 8700 mark with readers. For a small blogger, that a lot. Congratulations, Mary. Keep up the good work!

There’s talk of a party over at Andrew’s Place.

A funny thing happened to some global warming activists on their bike ride… see the details on Pitchpull.

Nice video on Autorotate’s Flying Circus with John Mutha – I mean, Murtha – dodging questions about Haditha accusations.

Visit Amboy Times and get a taste of the Enigma Called Barack.

Samantha has a series about Beirut. Thank you, Samantha – I knew I could count on you to remember.

And you, too, Loon.

And mdconservative on the Conservative Intelligence Report. Ooh rah, Semper Fi.

Kathi has Wednesday’s Hero, also, on Mail Call! Supporting The Troops.

That’s it for now – MEG’s waking up, and she needs her Daddy.

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Short way around – please visit the blogroll at the top of the Blogroll Page.

Today, I sing the praises (well-deserved) of my wife, TMBWitW.

While I was traveling back and forth to Flagstaff, she was going through end-of-month and end-of-quarter hoops as an accountant. Not being an accountant myself, I don’t pretend to know all that she does, but it involves closing books and balancing doo-dads, widgets, and recons. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week she worked half-days, so that MEG would’nt have to be away from home ALL day. Thursday, TMBWitW delayed going in until after the radiator was in so I wouldn’t have to try to corral MEG while I was under the QX4. Friday TMBWitW took the day off.

Monday and Tuesday, TMBWitW also took the days off so that I would be able to help my church build the play structure in the new kid’s play area. In the process, I managed to break through a ladder rung and scrape the heck out of my right outer shin with two deck screws. That’s gonna leave a mark.

I cannot express my gratitude enough to my lovely wife for the love, support, and concern she has shown me – first, the entire time we’ve been married, and second, especially this past couple of months. She has really been hit hard by Logan, and now the loss of a sister-in-law; through it all she has managed to help me get through the same losses.

(private note to my wife: I love you!)

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Where did I leave off? Oh, yeah – I brought you up to date as of Monday, 9/29, and then a brief bit on Wednesday.

Monday I drove home, and TMBWitW, MEG and I went to dinner. Kind of somber, with the overtones of my sister hanging in the air. I knew it was serious, but I didn’t know how serious.

Tuesday morning, my sisters LC and AW picked me up at the church property, where I had left MEG with the pastor’s wife. We got up to Flagstaff about noonish, just in time to say hi to LeaAnn and grab a bite to eat. I showed LeaAnn the latest picture of MEG, and told her that she was looking forward to meeting her Aunt Yannie very soon. We spent the afternoon talking, playing cards, and visiting with LeaAnn (“visiting” being an active word, since the visitor would do the talking, as suggested by the wonderful Hospice nurse); once LeaAnn’s best friend Sandy came in, the visits stopped for a while so that Sandy could finish reading (out loud) the latest novel that LeaAnn was reading when she could no longer hold her head up, much less hold the book.

Tuesday evening, the Hospice nurse went over, once again, the things we should all watch for as LeaAnn went through what Hospice calls “actively dying” – that is, the person will progress through particular stages and certain things can be expected. Afterward, LeaAnn’s other best friend (LeaAnn had a lot of best friends) CJ (no, it’s not another abbreviation, that really is how she is addressed) went over what the contents of LeaAnn’s living will were. LeaAnn wrote the document in 2003, knowing that when the time came her family would not have to make the decisions that were going to need to be made. After going over the living will, CJ stepped outside, for a breath of air she said – and pretty much couldn’t stop crying. I walked over to where she was trying to hide, behind the motor home, and I gave her a big old hug and thanked her for doing what none of us wanted done, for doing what none of wanted to have to be done. I told her she was a true friend, to do this for LeaAnn.

Wednesday morning dawned bright and clear, as it does in Flagstaff at this time of year. Hospice came out, and gave LeaAnn a sponge bath (part of making her comfortable – there is a whole balancing act to work between comfort and consciousness for the patient). Hospice had been trying to get a hospital bed for LeaAnn all week – there wasn’t one available in the Northland. I asked if it was possible to arrange for me to get one while I was in Phoenix on Thursday, and bring it up Friday – the Hospice nurse was very straight forward, and said that most likely LeaAnn would not make it that long. I thanked her for her candor.

Someone – either CY or SC – took Mom into town to get her hair done.

LC and I headed for town to run some errands – she needed to stop by the credit union, we needed to find some music that LeaAnn had specifically requested for her service, there were a couple of ice cream cones at the Dairy Queen with our names on them, my brother has requested some sourdough english muffins for Mom’s breakfast – and we had a 1400 meeting with Kay at Norvel Owens. We were a bit early, but Kay came out and started the proceedings anyway – she was very accommodating and quite pleasant. We had gotten through a good portion of the details, and were talking about when to call Norvel Owens, when LC’s phone rang. It was AW, with the news that LeaAnn had passed. That pretty much solved the question on the timing of calling them.

By the time LC and I made it back out to the house, Hospice had already been there and declared. LC and I brought the rest of the family up to speed on the decisions that needed to be made. N.O. was called, and while we were waiting for them to come out we cleared the way for the stretcher to make it into LeaAnn’s room. A small sewing machine case that was being used as a washstand (non-functional, she does have running water!) needed to be moved, but it couldn’t be picked up at the ends – it was rather fragile. I did a full leg squat, picked it up, and side-stepped it towards the kitchen and set it back down. LC and Mom said I looked very graceful while dancing with a small chest. I replied that I had danced with a few small chests in my time, then said that didn’t come out right…

CY was standing at the pantry, staring down the hall towards LeaAnn’s room, and watching the gentlemen from Norvel Owens working. I turned my niece around, and held her so she couldn’t watch. She was absolutely devastated by the whole thing, and didn’t need to watch LeaAnn leave. A few minutes after LeaAnn left, LC and AW gave me a ride down to Phoenix.

I spent Thursday morning replacing the radiator in the QX4. It was a lot easier than I expected, and I was finished in about an hour and a half.

Friday morning, TMBWitW called in for bereavement leave. My cousin, CT (the one who had called me the previous Sunday) came over to run through Amazing Grace with me. I picked up my older brother, DK, at the airport about 1115 and met TMBWitW and MEG at My Mother’s Restaurant for lunch. From there, DK and I went north. We got out to the house, changed, and headed back into town for the service. All six of us, and Mom, were there. There were several “fifth brother” and “fourth sister” types there, all of whom were a part of our family as we were growing up. LC and I sang Amazing Grace while CT played the piano. There were a lot of memories of LeaAnn, and we celebrated her life.

Back at the house, there was food and goings-on until the wee hours. DK, AW and I had to get up and go pretty early, so we turned in before the night got too old.

We left Flagstaff about 0830, and dropped AW off at the airport about 1045. DK and I went back to my house, where he showered and changed, and then we sat and visited until it was time to get him to the airport for his flight.

And I have been processing the proceedings since then; reading the comments from people I have met on line and realizing that I have something priceless – the support of friends.

Thank you, all, for the thoughts and prayers and well-wishes.