I had fun today

I suppose I should feel guilty that I've spent the entire day online (again!) but oh well....too bad!  I really had fun today.  I just wasn't finding the kind of stuff I wanted from ancestry.com so I decided to bite the bullet and buy a subscription to newspapers.com.

Oh my!  It's $80 a year but I'm pretty sure I can pay $8 a month instead.  Also, my first week is free and if I cancel by May 5, I don't have to pay anything.  We'll see....  I wasn't sure what to expect but I'm glad I decided to do it.  I've been typing in various relatives and various towns, and various phrases, and various dates and it's just my cup of tea.

I found a little write-up on my relatives getting together for a picnic. Granted it isn't mind blowing but it's the type of thing that keeps me amused.

I also found two obits....

I'm still looking for a couple of obits I want but I'm hopeful I'll hit on them sooner or later. I found this article on a restaurant opening up in Salem in 1935.

My grandpa's oldest sister, Georgie, was married to Jake Stark and they had hotels and restaurants. Apparently, one of the cooks took them to court saying he didn't get paid overtime. I think Jake had already died and Georgie had sold the business to her son.

Never could find who won but I'll look again another day.  I searched for myself but didn't find anything. I guess that's a good thing.  I'm still hunting for relatives that wore a badge. A cousin in Goldendale wrote me:

There was a Robert Edward Steele that was born on July 12, 1907 in Suver, Oregon, and died on May 30, 1989. He was an Oregon State Police Game Officer in the McKenzie River area. Remember my dad talking about him, and he thought highly of him. He was quite high in the state standing I was told. There has been a lot of officers over the generations. Ray Steele was the sheriff of Polk county until he retired, he would have been a nephew, and his son, Todd Steele, was also an officer with the state police. 

I found a note in the Oregon archives that my g. grandfather was an assessor and sheriff for a time in Illinois. I'm still trying to find that information.

Posted school pics of the grandkids on FB today so guess I'll put them on here too. Wish I was that photogenic.

I moved my "take a nap" recliner to another spot in the living room this morning and plan (I hope I can stick to it) to only use it for naps.  I've noticed the recliner just hasn't been comfortable for my back so I brought in a sensible chair to sit on while watching tv and doing cross stitch.  It's comfortable enough I guess but I may need to invest in another chair at some point.  Maybe an easy chair that doesn't recline but is comfy to sit in and has a straight back.  I'm going to throw a blanket on this one and see if it helps any.

I took the foam off my mattress yesterday and I did wake up feeling better this morning. At least as far as low back pain goes.  I sure do like sleeping on that foam, though, so I'll see if I definitely notice a long term improvement.

Weather has been weird today  Sunny then horribly gray and windy like a huge storm was gonna hit. Now it's kinda of windy but the sun is shining.  I should go for a walk but I'm not going to. I will go ride my exercise bike, though.  My r. knee has been up to something the past few days and it's making me mighty nervous.  I definitely do NOT want another knee replacement.

If the shooting pains, locking up, and buckling continue, I'll have to break down and see the orthopedic guy in Sequim.  My hope is that if the cartilage is wearing down (like it did in 1999 and 2000) maybe I can get by with arthroscope surgery.  I guess 15 years was a good run; especially when they told me it would probably only last me 10 years, if that.

First things first, though. Gotta work harder at dropping the weight.  If I can fix it that way instead of surgery, I'll be a happy camper.  Nothing like having your mobility challenged to put you in a funk! I even got my dad's cane out yesterday to give me a little more confidence walking around the house. I haven't noticed any pattern to the pain attacks. They come out of the blue when I'm just walking across the room OR.... if I'm sitting in my recliner or laying in bed.  Not good.  Aging totally sucks!

And on a happy note, here's a picture my cousin, Marlee, sent me of her tulips in Gig Harbor.  I'm totally jealous. Mine didn't do well this year.  Partly, I suppose because I dug them up and then forgot where I put the bulbs.  What an idiot!  They probably turned moldy and I threw them out.  I don't deserve pretty flowers.  Ha!