The Trip Over

Can you believe it?

Don Hayen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:02:00 GMT

I looked up my blog today and realized I've written only one entry in the month of February. "Out of site, out of mind." In my case it just "out of mind!"

It's not that I haven't thought about things to write. I just don't think of them at a convenient time. I could make excuses. I started writing for an on-line publisher called Demand Studios. They pay me $20/article which, with research and such, takes me about 2 hours each to write. The trouble is, they don't accept everything I write and some of the subjects just aren't suitable for a dermatologist to write; like 'How to freeze your moles off.' A dermatologist would never advise to freeze off a mole.

But there are a ton of titles to chose from and I'm free to pick them at will. So I may make a few bucks and write a little for fun. The articles are published on-line at LiveStrong and other general information sites.

I've not given up on this blog. Just a little distracted for a bit. I'm back in full swing.

Living in paradise

Don Hayen — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:06:00 GMT

We are having a heat wave in Southern California. Temp is in the mid-80's today. The rest of the country is gripped in terrible winter. Sorry about that.

Poor Jenni's lupus is acting up. She is weak, tired and physically going through all kinds of problems. There's nothing to stop it. It's pretty discouraging. She has been trying to get me out each day to exercise my legs.

I've been glued to the t.v. watching the Olympics. I watch even the boring stuff like cross country skiing. I admire the challenges these people overcome. My sweet wife got me a huge Sony HD TV. It's like being there without the wet and cold. I love it.

Still plugging away

Don Hayen — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:13:00 GMT

Jenni and John added comments to my last entry. They are such sweethearts and we love them so much.

Tonight we are going to live theater. We've had season tickets for several years and enjoy it very much. Of course, you all know that if it weren't for Jane, I'd never step out of the house. She keeps me going.

We sold my car. It was a struggle but after several false starts we advertised on line and a young woman from San Diego bought it. So I'm officially wheeless now. Have to turn my license into the DMV soon. Poor Jane has to provide my transportation everywhere now.

Here we are again...

Don Hayen — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:22:00 GMT

It's been nine days since I made an entry in this blog. It's not because I'm busy. I just don't think of it when I've got the time to be creative. I imagine most of you don't see my ramblings as creations anyway. They are more like footprints in mud.

I do have something very important to tell you all. Jenni and John got married last week. We went to the courthouse with them and acted as witnesses. They are happy and content and feel they've made a good decision. We do too. John is really a fine person.

This is his first marriage but Jenni's forth. We're thankful she found him. He is a real stable figure in her life and she needs that. Now, I don't have to worry about her future.

Rain and disasters

Don Hayen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:30:00 GMT

The first real rains in many months have struck the Southern California coast line and it's not over. It is our form of winter. Rain tapping against the window, wind bending the trees and water running down the streets. How nice.

I've stayed in all day but now am getting ready to go out to a dinner with friends from church. No big deal... just an outing.

I have tried to imagine what it would be like if all this rain came down in the form of snow. We'd be digging out for weeks.

Reminds me ... the horrible events in Haiti. Could I survive such horrible circumstances? I suppose I could but it is hard to imagine.

A note from far away

Don Hayen — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:18:00 GMT

We've been at the time share for 3 days now. It's in Capistrano or Dana Point; it's hard to tell which. Anyway, we're across the street from the beach, so it's really nice. Magnificent sunsets.

We've been very lazy. Set around all day reading and go to movies and watching lots of tv. Eating too much as well. You know how it is.

We have to come home ... temporarily ... on Thursday for choir practice and then we'll come back for 2 more days to finish our week. Vacation, interrupted.

Supposed to rain tomorrow. That will be different.

A new way to read

Don Hayen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:38:00 GMT

I received a 'Nook', an e-book handled by Barnes and Noble bookstores, as a gift for Christmas. It took us a while to get it all set up, with my son's help. Now I have to get some books loaded into the thing. So, I guess I'll have to go to the bookstore to do that.

It's really small and handy. The print is clear and readable. I'm going to look forward to using it. This may be the end of publishing, as we know it. Even Newspapers are using this media. Magazines, too.

Wouldn't it be interesting to live in a world where you could download your reading material into a portable reader and not have to stagger through a store?

this and that;;; again

Don Hayen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:05:00 GMT

It's a sunny warm day in Southern California. I want to say that to 'rub it in' to all you folks in the east and north.

Nothing much is happening since we got home. I've got calendars hanging all over my desk; Kansas Alumni Assoc., Alzheimer's Association, local stores, you name it. I won't lose track of the day this year.

Jane and I are going to go to a near by Time-Share next week. Don't have any plans for big activities but it should be fun and relaxing. Hope the weather holds out.

Glad your back home

Don Hayen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:24:00 GMT

Happy New Year from Kansas. Glad Don and Jane made it home to sunny CA. We all could feel Don's pain facing the wiles of a Michigan winter! We here in Kansas are having a time with snow, 12" on the ground at this writing. And bitter cold, -3 this morning and worse is coming down the pike, the weather people say.

Hope all of you have the best 2010 and may we all see and end to the shouting which has consumed our thinking for the past year. Take care. From Kansas

California, here we come!

Don Hayen — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:55:00 GMT

Happy New Year!

We're going to be on the road to the airport in about 2 hours. We have to get there very early because of the bomb alert on Christmas day. The flight is 5 hours and we gain 3 hours.

Looking forward to getting home but will miss our Michigan family. They are dear to us.

It is snowing..... again

Don Hayen — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:02:00 GMT

It has snowed a least a bit in every 24 hour interval we have been here. It's supposed to be 2" tonight and more tomorrow.

I don't understand why anyone would voluntarily live in this part of the world. You have to be crazy or a true masochist.

We have 2 1/2 more days ... and counting. Having a ball with the grandkids. Andria, the oldest still living at home, played in the finals of a high school basketball game tonight. Her team won!

We'll be back in LA on Saturday. Can't wait.

We're in snowy, cold Michigan

Don Hayen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:25:00 GMT

Why would anyone want to live here? It was cold and raining when we arrived on Christmas day. Then it started snowing and has piled up periodically each day since. It is now about 5 inches and growing. ugh!

We had an uneventful trip but found out after we got to Chris and Laurie's house that there had been a bomb threat on a plane that arrived in Detroit just after we arrived. Some nut was going to blow up the plane.

We are getting ready to go to my teenage granddaughter's basketball game. She is tall and athletic and is good in any sport she tries. I must cut this short.

The story continues.

Don Hayen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:46:00 GMT

It's going on 5 years since I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I still function pretty well but I know things are not right and I'm beginning to drift a bit. Jane can really see it and would probably reject the 'a bit' part of that statement.

I've nearly stopped writing. I have no creative juices left and set around a great deal, staring at the wall. My head feels like it is stuffed with wadded-up paper.

I suppose I've been fortunate to have done so well for this long. I haven't given up yet. For all you old timers who have followed me along, hang in there. I still have a story to tell. It may be badly told, but be patient with me.

Busy season

Don Hayen — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:35:00 GMT

I can't believe how quickly time flies. Christmas is 4 days away! Wow!

Jenni took me shopping for Jane today. We had coffee and wondered around a store or two. I can't say here what I got her 'cause she will read it, but I think she'll like it.

Sweet Jenni and her 'sig. other', John, had an interesting thing happen. They were working a Wayne Foster show at a big home in Carona del Mar Saturday night and the singer lost her voice. John jumped in, and though it was not his style of music, he sang well and for 3 hours, held up the show. He's pretty remarkable.

Got to run. Lunch with friends.

Our holiday trip

Don Hayen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Jane and Laurie, our daughter-in-law in Detroit, are plotting on the phone for Christmas. We are leaving Christmas day to visit them for a week. They are making plans for gifts and activities.

We may get to see snow. It usually does when we are back there. They often have deer in there back yard as well.

My thoughtful daughter-in-law is arranging tickets for the 'Little Caesars Pizza Bowl' game on the 26th between Ohio and Marshall. She knows how to get to her father-in-law.

Creeping up on Christmas

Don Hayen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:15:00 GMT

I can't seem to get myself 'into' the Christmas mood. To my chagrin, Jane has bought me a Christmas gift which means I will need to buy one for her. ugh!

I can't buy clothes for her... I don't know what size and color and style are beyond me. Jewelry is a real risk for the same reason. Perfumes and cosmetics is like advanced chemistry...

I suspect, looking back over our 54 years of marriage that I've hit the mark less then 10% of the time when I bought a gift I thought she might like. With a record like that, birthdays and Christmas are not my favorite time of the year. I'd rather have a tooth pulled.

An anniversery with meaning

Don Hayen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:26:00 GMT

69 years ago today, I was 8 years old and visiting my neighbor, Dicky Dale Miller. We were lying on the rug, playing when the phone rang. Dicky's mother answered it in the kitchen. The conversation was brief. She walked in to and announced, "The Japanese have just attacked Pearl Harbor. We are at war."

Not knowing what to expect, I looked out the window, imagining I would see bombs dropping on the empty lot next door. An icy hand gripped my gut. I had two brothers already in the military and my folks had been talking about the possibility of war.

I can't remember what happened next but I suspect I went home. My world had suddenly changed, permanently.

For all of you born since that time, you will never really understand what happened. I don't understand most of it. It was a time of immeasurable heroics, insurmountable evil, horrible danger, and sacrifice beyond anyone's imagination.

We continue to look at war as the solution. Let us hope and pray that we can overcome this fixation that war is the answer to any problem.

I've done it again!

Don Hayen — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:06:00 GMT

It's been well over a week since I've written a blog. I just can't keep up. It has been a busy week, though. Thanksgiving and all got in the way. We had Jenni and her family, including Justin and Travis, over for a traditional dinner. We all ate too much, as usual.

Now, Christmas season is rushing up to smack us in the face. We have all kinds of music things to prepare for at the church. Then, on Christmas Day, we leave for Michigan for a week with Chris and his family. We will be back on January 2.

I'm sorry I failed to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, but I'll do that now. In addition, let's make this holiday season one that will be memorial... Peace, love, understanding, forgiveness, giving and temperance.

The past week

Don Hayen — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:31:00 GMT

It's been a busy week. We've seen several theater productions and went to see the movie, "The Men Who Stares at Goats." What an odd movie. Funny but, in the end, ran out of gas. Can only push an improbable premise so far.

We saw a musical at the Coronado Play House last weekend. It was a segment of Handles life when he wrote the Messiah. Beautiful voices; beautiful music; wonderful story.

Had a doctor appointment this afternoon. I have an inherited blood disorder ... hemochromotosis. I store too much iron which can damage my organs. I get a pint of blood taken out every three months. Lot's of fun.

Anyhow, that's a little of what is happening on the left coast.

Jan responds

Don Hayen — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:08:00 GMT

Don sees his lack of blog entries as failure. My excuse is plain old procrastination!!

Add to that my ongoing war with a new laptop and not much comes from Kansas. But the older has spoken. Don, I will begin to send you those memories to which you can respond. Somehow we need to figure out how to get these on a site for all to see. Such will be the glory of our rememberings! I am sure. Jan in Kansas.