I really need some advice here

I don't know what to do. As some of you know surfing the iternet is kind of a hobby with me and because I don't move around to well I usually do a little surfing everyday. Well, this morning I was surfing and all of the sudden this advisory flashed on the screen..It said" ATTENTION!! YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE INTERNET AND YOU CANNOT CONTINUE ANY FURTHER. YOU MUST GO BACK NOW!" Soooo... what do I do now???

6 quirks and other stuff

After being harrassed to the point of tears by a couple of grandaughters ( you know who you are and how viciously you harrassed your poor old sick Grandfather) I have decided to attempt an entry........







6 quirks of mine.



1. The fact that I find doing this very difficult because I am near perfect could be considered by
some to be a quirk. If I can ever learn to overcome my modesty I will have achieved NIRVANA and will truly be perfect.



2. The first thing I do every morning is comb my hair. I can't stand for it to be messed up even when no one is around.



3. I can't smile on command for pics like most people can. I can only smile if I think something is funny.



4. When I do smile I have a very crooked smile...more like a sneer..... I have one eye tooth on the left side that protrudes outward which I have always been self concious about especially as a teenager so I practiced smiling while not exposing that tooth hence the sneer.



5. I love a challenge and would tackle almost any challenge with enthusiasm often taking on more than I was capable of doing and then lose interest.I go through hobbies and projects like crazy. Once I am marginally competant at any hobby ( never really completely good at it ) I then lose interest and want to try something else.



6. MGJ might tell you I tend to be somewhat CONTROLLING but that is so not true. I just like to be in charge.





I could probably come up with more quirks but thats enough for now.





I really have been sickly. I got a cold or flu virus a month or so ago and it really zapped me like they usually do. while I had it I could not move at all. I could lift my head off the bed but that was it. MGJ really had a tough time moving me around but as I recuperated a little my favorite nurse practitioner showed us how to use a Gait belt to lift me up and help me move around a little. To make a long story short I am now pretty much recuperated from that bout but each time that happens it seems I am never quite as able to move around as well as I did beforehand.


Since no one can figure out what exotic disease I have (including the super neurologists at the U of Washington medical center) my next,and last stop, may be the Mayo clinic in Minnesota. I should know in a couple weeks if I'll be going there. If they can't come up with a diagnosis ( good or bad) then nobody can.





Thats all for now folks. More later.

Grandma Updates

Just thought I'd update this blog a little since Carl/Dad/Grandpa says he's run out of things to say. Not that I'm a fountain of information but I'll try.



My brother Richard had a mild stroke about 3 weeks ago. He was very fortunate to get to the hospital so quickly. He's pretty much completely recovered now. The Dr. has released him to drive again.



Then right after he got home his wife Sue had some sort of heart episode and was in the hospital for a week undergoing all sorts of tests but they haven't been able to find anything wrong. All this was right after they had a sewer backup and overflow in their basement. Thank heavens they have good homeowner's insurance because fixing all the damage and replacing stuff that was ruined is going to run aboud $30,000. WOW!!



Friday we received word that our good friend's daughter Lori Arion died in San Diego. We' ve known Lori for 44 years. She was only 1 year old when we first met the Arions. She had MS for the last 20 someodd years and her death was sort of expected but it was still hard. No parent expects to outlive their child.



And now Carla is coming up on her surgery on the 24th. Hopefully she will recover quickly and feel better once they take out some stuff and put her other innerds back where they're supposed to be.



Carl/Dad/Grandpa has been feeling better lately. He can't stand or walk any better but overall I think he's feeling better. He's been staying up later, beating me at Scrabble, etc.



I've just been hanging around staying out of trouble. Still hitting the garage sales every weekend but I may have to stop. We're running out of room. Everytime I go out I find something for the house and then I have to come home and move everything around to make room for it - and that's a lot of made up work which it just occurred to me that I could avoid if I JUST STAYED AWAY FROM GARAGE SALES.



We're looking forward to hopefully meeting our newest granddaughter-in-law when Josh and Stephanie come home in July. I know they're going to be busy and time is limited but hopefully Steph will get to meet us all.



We sure enjoy all the grandchildren's blogs - being able to keep up with everyone and watching the little one's grow.



Well, as the Ames says - I'm done talking now, I'm leaving. Love you all.

I caint believe.........

I caint believe its been most near a month since I made an entry so I better gitter dun!






Firstof all let MGJ and myself say CONGRATULATIONS to good grand son-in-law Brett for his being hired as the new executive sou chef at the CDA Casino. Its a definite step up for Brett and comes with a healthy raise so we know who to hit up for a loan. Grandma and I always knew you could do it Brett.





So its been a couple weeks since I did the the above paragraph. Don't know why I'm having such a problem with doing this blog cuzz you all know I am NEVER at a loss for words....maybe its because my life is TOTALLY BORING!!!!!!





Also congratulations to James and Leanna on my new great grandson Ryan. Leanna's an excellent baby maker and I guess James had something to do with it too :-) We're looking forward to seeing all the younger Gentrys at Christmas. I'm told James is doing great learning Persian but of course I knew he would as somewhere in James lurk some great Rodgers/Murphy Genes. We're sure hoping that James gets selected for chief.





AND congratulations to Chelsea for completing this semester of college with a 4.0 GPA. Chels, I'm sure you worked hard to get that 4.0 but again, good R/M genes. Accounting was my most difficult course when I went to college. The hardest part to me was doing all the entries on stone slabs.





AND congratulations to Tommy for completing the first phase of his pilots training. He now has his private license. I can't claim his success was due to R/M genes but one of the reasons Tommy has been so successful is the power behind the throne, Shannon who is a really fantastic military wife and of course possesses lots of R/M genes.



And a big congratulations to MGJ and myself for having the foresight to combine DNA however accidently which created 3 fantastic kids and indirectly 8 fabulous grandkids and 7 wonderful
great grandkids (so far).



We had a big garage sale yesterday. Lauren, Carla and Kevin and Heidi Burt all contributed stuff and Carla.Kevin and Lauren all assisted and MGJ spent most of a week in setting it all up. Unfortunately we did not have a big turnout like we usually have. We were expecting a mob when we opened the doors and folks just kind of dribbled in all day. We all think its because of
the gas prices, heat (92 degrees yesterday) and lots of other garage sales but who knows for sure.



Speaking of the weather we went from cold and rainy to extremely hot,97 today....no spring at all. And speaking of the weather I must be running out of things to say so I'm outa here.

Its been a couple weeks

Its been a couple weeks since I've written anything so this is kind of an update.

YIPPEEE! We sold the Jayco tent trailer last week. We got what we were asking for it and had three folks in line if the party that bought it backed out so that means we PROBABLY UNDERPRICED IT!!!! DARN IT. Oh well that's the story of our life (buy high and sell low). I am glad we sold it but it's also kind of sad because its the end of a long and wonderful time camping and RVing from camping in a tent and the back of a stationwagon with our kids in Illinois and Wisconsin and camping on the beach and the mountains around San Diego, to camping in Zion with our kids and Richard and sue and Mike. Then camping at Fort Stevens with family and also on our own. Touring the country in our Airstream and then our Silverstreak. Then great camping with the family at Farragut ,Glacier and finally Heyburn. So that's like 36 years or so of great memories and we'll have them for the rest of our lives.

We're having new windows put in the front of the house. They are vinyl with the white grids in them and they should look really nice. If I were a lot more ambulatory I would tackle it myself but I'm learning (slowly but surely) that its time to let someone else do it. Power wheelchairs are great but they do have their limitations. I've gotten mine stuck in the snow and in the yard a few times trying to take it places it really wasn't designed to go.

Things are going fine at our house.... We were sitting around the other day trying to figure out
why we didn't have any time left in our days to get anything done that we SHOULD be doing like cleaning house or yard work etc. And we realized our day goes something like this:

1. Up at approximately 7:30 then 2 hours to read newspaper and drink one pot of coffee or in MGJs case doze some more with a blanket and 3 dogs on her lap and then drink coffee and read the paper.

9:30/10:00 Cook and eat breakfast then have a cup of tea and sit around and discuss ALL OF YOU and our plans for the day.

11:00 or so Make bed take baths ,grooming, getting dressed 1.0 hour

12:00 noon or so MGJ goes shopping. I clean up breakfast dishes surf the net, play video games etc. 2 hours

2:00PM MGJ home. works on puzzle and I take a 1 hour nap ( I'm totally exhausted by now)

3:00PM MGJ and I engage in a very competitive game of Scrabble with numerous arguments and referrals to the dictionary and various jibes at each other re: who's the better Scrabble player.

4:00PM feed dogs, MGJ works on puzzle I mill about smartly waiting on dinner, occasionally preparing same but mostly just making hungry sounds until MGJ makes dinner.

5:00PM eat dinner in front of TV while watching a movie... We now have 738 videos in our library. Some last up to 2.5 hours.

7:00PM or later MGJ works on puzzle, I watch TV or read Emails or Craigslist or surf some more. Either MGJ or I clean up the kitchen. 2 or 3 hours.

10:00PM Beddy bye for me or shortly thereafter (you can understand how terribly exhausted I am by then). I usually lay in bed and read until about 11nish or so. MGJ stays up later and works on puzzles or reads she usually goes to bed around 11:30 or midnight.

You can see by our extremely busy schedule that we don't have time for working or anything else :-) We always make time for visiting family or there visiting us. We always love those times and we occasionally go out to breakfast or dinner with friends but that leaves absolutely NO time for laundry ,cleaning , Dr. visits ,lawn work exercise, etc. So, we just don't do them.

Now you might well ask why I just took time out of our brutishly busy schedule to do this blog entry ;that is because I am old and retired and really enjoy rubbing it in to all my working readers!!! Eat your hearts out guys...all you have to do to have a schedule much like ours is to GET OLD!!

On a slightly more serious note, I'm going to try to attach an article I received by Email. I'm not sure who sent it to me but the thought is sure appropriate Its titled "A cup of coffee". For you LDS folk,think Sprite or water :-)

A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee. When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering. 'You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems.' He continued, 'Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this:

Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. The coffee is brewed, but you supply the cups. Enjoy your coffee!'

The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything they have. So please: Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

I'm most thankful for the special flavor you add to my coffee.

Yippee .....its finally on!!!

I finally got some pics of the wonderful quilt Carla made for my 70th
birthday. I took some closeups of some of squares and 2/3 of the quilt.
A good pic of the entire quilt is on Carlas blog. As I said before its probably
the nicest birthday present I've ever received. Between that and the great dinner
with lots of the people I love It was certainly the most memorable birthday of my life.
Be sure and check out the quilt!!!

What did I ever do to deserve such a great family

Yesterday was my seventieth birthday. I'm old and pretty decrepit but thats not the reason for writing this.
For the last several weeks I have had a gut feeling that something was going on which I was not privy too. When the Ames,or Carlala came over and I was out of the room or as they were leaving and MGJ was walking them out their voice levels would drop to a whisper and there would be whispered discussions and when I would ask what was going on I would be told in no uncertain terms that "it is none of your business so butt out". I was of course terribly hurt but I didn't ever insist on being informed as is my right as husband, dad and patriarch (I'm the patriarch because I'm older than dirt). To make a long story short I began to suspect that something nefarious was being planned for my 70th. I had a feeling it might be something like my darling kidlets did on my 60th birthday,but I held my tongue. Days and weeks passed and sure as night turns to day I was invited to Elmers, one of my favorite restaurants and as I wheeled in there was all the people I love, with a few exceptions which I'll address later, all waiting for me. The room was decked out in balloons and there was a gorgeous cake and a stack of birthday cards and gobs of smiling faces. There was (in no particular order other than maybe generational) my darling wife of 52 years and mother of the flock MGJ, my fantastic daughters Carla and Amy and their two hubbys and my favorite son-in-laws Kevin the magnificent and the big Randoon, my very handsome son Todd (takes after his dad) and my favorite daughter in law Martha AKA FDIL,my favorite brother-in -law Richard (even though he's retired Coast Guard I've always tried to never hold that against him) and his ever suffering yet always gracious wife Sue, my lovable oldest grandaughter Lauren , my sweet grandaughter Lacey and her fabulous hubby Kelby AKA Kermit,my beautiful great granddaughter Tabitha, my gorgeous great grandaughter Natty, and my two marvelously handsome great grandsons Jordan and Jayden.



Missing from this great group of loved ones were Grandson Josh my hero in the Army and soon to be deploying to Iraq for the second time and his ravishing fiancee Stephanie also deploying to Iraq both of whom are in Germany,my second oldest grandaughter the beautiful Chelsea and her handsome and debonnaire hubby Jeff, both in snowy Colorado. Laurens one and only the dashing Brett who unfortunately had to work, and my third oldest grandaughter Shannon and her soon to be Coast Guard flyguy Tommy, and my great grandson the handsome devil- may- care Jace, in sunny Florida my wonderful Russian linguist grandson and sailor (like his grandpa) James and his loving and ever patient wife Leanna and my two fabulous great grandsons Adam and Kevin, in sunny California. Last but not least are my youngest grandchildren the gorgeous Sara, future tennis star and the dashing Matt future sailor like his Grandpa. Also I don't want to fail to mention my two grandson "Buns" that are still being baked (Leanna and Lacey) I'm sure they'll pop out perfectly done and fabulously beautiful.



So my typing finger got tired on the 9th and its now the 11th at 21:20. For you Army ,Coasties and Air Force types Mickeys short hand is on the 9 and his long hand is on the 4 and its dark out....but I digress... back to the birthday dinner. The dinner went smashingly and I enjoyed all the great cards and seeing and talking to all my loved ones,eating the cake and thoroughly enjoying the great company.


My personal Nurse Practitioner and fabulous daughter Carla presented me with an absolutely beautiful handmade quilt which I know she worked many many hours on and was one of the most thoughtful and nicest presents I have ever received. You've got to see it to believe it. It's all about My Navy career and has pics of me as a whitehat and Warrant Officer and of the Yorktown and the Kitty Hawk, the two carriers I made my three Westpac cruises on , copies of recruiting posters etc. etc. and even genuine dress blue cuff mermaids which all truly salty sailors wore on liberty (me included). I'll try to get pics of the quilt and the party on as soon as I can figure out how to do it. But believe me when I say it was very much appreciated and will always be cherished. I also want to thank my sailor grandson James for providing technical advice and nautical type suggestions to his Mom. AND DIGRESSSING A LITTLE I WAS INFORMED TODAY THAT JAMES HAD PASSED HIS WRITTEN EXAM FOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER, THE FIRST STEP THAT MUST BE DONE BEFORE HE CAN BE CONSIDERED FOR PROMOTION....SO A BIG CONGRATULATIONS AND HEARTY PAT ON THE BACK GRANDSON. WE'RE VERY PROUD OF YOU AND WE'LL KEEP OUR FINGERS CROSSED THAT YOU GET SELECTED!!!!


I also want to thank my wonderful daughter Ames for organizing, planning and arranging the entire party. Amy is always the one who steps up and takes charge and reponsibility to get things organized and done. She and Randy are one of the primary reasons the family is so close
with their hosting of the family dinners, their generosity and their willingness to share all they have.



No one has EVER had a better 70th birthday than I had and I am always truly in awe when I see all of you together. Amy talks in her blog about being blessed and I believe I am doubly blessed by the love and the existance of all of my family. MGJ and I are very proud of all of you. Thanks for just being you and being my family. Love, Dad,Grandpa,Papa JAKE, Carl