Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Reno was where Jack wanted to go for his birthday so we did. I surprized him with tickets to see Athlion in the Eldorado Showroom. Athlion was a Cirque du Sole type show and was great. Jack had never seen anything like it. We also drove up to Virgina City and spent the day going through the mining museam, the town itself, and even a walking tour of the least productive mine there! Aside from that we ate good food and gambled just enough to bring back what we took for gambling money! All in all a good trip!

We drove into quite a snow storm on the way home! I guess we timed that trip just right. It has since all melted way but it remains cold most days and snow covers all the mountain peaks around us.

This last weekend we attended a funeral for a friend that lost her battle with heart disease. It was an amazing service. She had planned the music and many aspects of it herself. What struck me was how she could exude love from the casket that set before us! It was very positive and comforting. Jack had known her for 30 years and he said she'd always been that way. Amazing.

That same day Shiloh somehow managed to cut her shoulder! The ten stitches and drain are covered with a very chic looking tee-shirt tied at her mid-rif. Makes me think of aoreobic's teachers every time I look at her! She got used to the tee-shirt fairly quickly but the not being able to run, jump, or fetch anything for two weeks is a different matter. It's been two days and she thinks she is "well". I'm hoping she won't pull the stitches out!

We are going to spend Thanksgiving Day with friends here in Klamath Falls. The boys are going to family dinners in Coquille and Coos Bay.

Traveling to and from Klamath Falls in the winter is always so risky! It's the greatest drawback to living here. Once winter sets in we're pretty isolated.

Later this morning (8 am) I go for a two hour glucose test... again. I told them the results of the one I took a few years ago...that it takes three hours for the "drop" to hit me but they want to do the two hour test anyway. They are testing for diabeties...I have the opposite - hyper-glycemia. Oh well.

Good news is my liver enzymes have almost returned to normal! Jack's are back to normal! We are jazzed about that!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

4 comments:

Diane said...

I have a Thanksgiving Story to post - one of these days. Almost ready to load the RV - and when we get back - you'll be here. 75 today - supposed to warm up some from the "cold front" that is here. LOL!! Spent the day today cleaning the outside with the power washer.....

Life in California said...

I came across your blog while searching for other things. Your blog is very impressive. It looks like the two of you have found some happiness in your lives. Congratulations.

Thom, Tamara and Tony were glad to see you and your family. They are all living with their families now. Tony lives in Watterloo, Belgium and works as a net designer. He was always brilliant in those lines. Tamara is an attorney and teacher and Thom is in sales (of course)

Keep up the good work. It's very nice to see you happy.

Unknown said...

Another note from a long gone and forgotten Skiens child hehe.
Very cool to see Jack after at least 30 years. The last time I talked with Jack he just got a double battery system for his GMC truck. It would allow full AMP usage for his winch without worrying that the battery that started the engine would be dead. But the classic memory I have of Jack was him at his Dad's house laying next to the Stereo and playing "Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" over and over and over again.... no one seemed to notice...
Hi Jack :-)

Torrie Venus said...

Hello there! Still another one of the long lost and forgotten Skiens children here, Thom Skiens. I was the oldest boy, the one with the rebellious Dennis The Menace attitude and smart ass comebacks. I'm 47 years old now - still a quick wit, a poet, an artist and relatively happy adult, living in the heart of northern California, Fair Oaks ( a suburb of Sacramento).
I am pleased to see that Jack has turned out to be a happily married man and with such an upbeat, optimistic, good woman. Love really does heal all of us and it makes this ol' world turn around, after all...
My best memories of Jack are the many summer camping trips we went on. Our beautiful mother, Joni, loved laying in the sun, reading books and dipping her feet into the cold spring water. We kids got sunburnt, acted silly making up songs and even tried catching a fish or two. One year in my teen years, I had a birthday party while on one such camping extravaganza. I received as gifts a pine cone, a twig and a birthday cake baked in a pan. It was one of the most memorable birthdays ever in such a tranquil backdrop.
I also recall Jack's parents, Audrey and Howard. They were classy people who always lived in the country. I cauight my first fish across the street from one of their country homes, appropariately on the Lost River. It was a cat fish. I was excited and although I haven't gone fishing much in the years to come, I always recollect those years fondly.
Like my brother's memories, I recall Jack's favorite playing records - Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and Creedence Clearwater.
One time Jack shook his finger in the air while the Beatles played on the stereo. "They're one fine set of musicians," he said.
One time I got in trouble for throwing plastic fruit back and forth with my brother, Tony, inside the house. Jack wanted to puncish me, so he ordered me to sit on a kitchen stool. He placed a bowl atop my head and got the scissors. My punishment was to be a hair cut using the bowl over my head. Just as I feared it would be a bowl cut moment, he took the bowl off my head and he changed his mind. That is the closest I ever got to sportig a three stooges style hair do!
Thank goodness we are all doing well these days, with love, health, sobriety and good will unto others.
I wish you all well this season and may the year 2009 be even better....

God Bless You All,

Thom Skiens (One of the long lost Skiens kids)