This is what I call life

2/2/2022 - Tips before your spouse dies

Here are some tips that I've learned with the death of my husband.

Have your own credit cards. If you have individual credit cards you won't be responsible for your spouse's debt.
Have a life insurance policy or a savings account with at least $10,000.
Have a file folder with all pertinent information that should include:

Service discharge papers
Copy of social security card
Power of Attorney designation
Will
Final wishes about the disposition of your body e.g. Viewing? Funeral? Burial of remains or cremains?
Birth certificate
Marriage license
Credit card list with account numbers
List of any/all loans, the bank and account numbers
Your obituary
Ready cash
Email and social media logins and passwords

Make sure your spouse or children know where your file folder is located.
Have access to ready cash. You can keep it in your file folder.
You will need a copy of the death certificate for each credit card and each loan. It's easier to get all you need at once.
Decide if you want anyone to have access to your email or social media accounts. If so, write down the logins and passwords for each account. Keep in your file folder and keep updated.
Freeze major credit bureaus. You will have to make accounts using your spouse's information. This will stop anyone trying to get a credit card or loan in your spouse's name. Equifax will give you a few free credit reports. This may reveal loans or credit cards you weren't aware of.

Contact Social Security Administration (800-772-1213) to apply for widow/widower benefits. Prepare to stay on hold forever but this means more money for you.
If your spouse has personal property in their name alone or a will, prepare for probate. You can go online in your state or county to find out what you need.
If your spouse does NOT have personal property that is solely in their name you may only have to file a certified death certificate with the Register of Wills.
You may have to change the beneficiaries in your life insurance or pension.
Write your own obituary now so your family won't forget the information you want to be included.

The most important thing you can do is keep your head about you. This is hard and necessary.

7/10/2021 - Red rocks of the southwest - The Grand Canyon - The Great American Roadtrip part 2

There is a lot of mysticism about red rocks. One example you may know is in Sedona, AZ. Although beautiful, the city has become too, lets say weird, for me to stay long. Sedona has portrayed the "mystical vortexes" as their call to cash. I can't say I believe the mysticisms, I do believe that red rocks are healers. If you find yourself in a place of red rocks you will feel comforted, calm, and have a feeling of well-being. Let all the hippies stay in Sedona, I'm going to the Grand Canyon.

As a lot of landscape in the southwest (ancient ruins, slot canyons, arches) red rock landscapes are mostly found in the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona. The sedimentary strata underlying this large region are colored various shades of red, yellow, and gray and exposed in many places, either in canyons, plateau edges or other eroded formations.

If you ever get the opportunity to go to The Grand Canyon, go. You may overhear park rangers tell anxious tourist that the canyon is a bazillion years old. I personally don't believe it but I like to listen just the same.

Our first trip to The Grand Canyon was in 2007, on our honeymoon in February. Our second trip there was in August of 2007 to celebrate my retirement. Our third and possibly our last trip was last year during The Great American Roadtrip. Let's get to some photos.

These are from last year when we were there. We stayed AT The Grand Canyon in one of their campgrounds. By far the best place to stay. As you can see we had a couple visitors to our camground. This was the first of August, 2020 and very hot. I went to the empty campsites and turned their water on dripping to give my friends some water. One morning I watched an Elk stand there for over an hour getting a drink.

I can't say I've never made it below the rim, in 2007 I did make it below the rim on that trip. I'll have to dig up the pictures for that trip.

More to come...don't go away...please come back...wait, there's more...

7/9/2021 - And you thought all my emails didn't work

Yesterday I announced that I was published and that I wasn't attributed at all. HA! I sent them an email and told them if I didn't get credit, it would be the last work they saw of mine.

Now it says by Dawn Lewis. Cureup.org

Why is this a big deal? It's not for you probably. No one celebrates more accomplishments than the author. There are much better blogs to read, I like reading cooking blogs myself. For the most part, this blog is for me and maybe some for my real friends. You know, real friends that want to see milestones in your life, friends that are there for you when you need, friends that are family. I used to have a lot of those friends but they've dwindled away. Now I've got friends that ARE there for me, that DON'T talk behind my back, that DON'T abandon a friend in need. To think I wasted all that time on them. The past is in the past.

h/t to Elsa.

7/8/2021 - I'm published!

I wrote an article for cureup.org and was published! I actually just used one of my recent blog posts. They published it word for word. I was so impressed until I looked at it.

THEY DIDN'T CREDIT ME AT ALL!

I replied to their email congratulating me asking why my article wasn't credited to me. I told them if I didn't get the credit it would be the last article I submitted.

Anyway, here it is:

Cureup.org

7/7/2021 - Four-twenty

I've been using medical marijuana for a couple years now. I'd like to tell you the difference it makes for me:

Calms my nerves
My nerves are my major complaint of pain for both my MS and fibromyalgia.
It calms me
Those of you that know me know that I'm a jitterbug, I can't keep still.
It tempers my mood swings
MS can cause major mood swings, from laughing to crying, from anger to rage.
Helps with nausea
Sometimes the quivering I have is in my stomach muscles which causes nausea.
Reduces inflammation
Fibromyalgia and MS are thought to be autoimmune diseases.
Helps with anxiety
Yeah, I know, when you see me I don't seem anxious. If you could roll back a couple hours you'd see a basket case. So when you see me high, at least you're getting to see me.
Lets me sleep in peace
Being able to calm my nerves long enough to get sleep is worth its weight in gold. When you sleep, you heal.
Calms muscle spasms
My legs are so toned because the muscles in my legs spasm, often. Now if only the muscles in my stomach would give me six-pack abs.
Fights off depression
Like most anyone with chronic pain, they also fight depression. Some of your deepest and darkest days are when you are hurting. Heart hurting and body hurting.
Fights pain
The major use for me is for pain. That is why my Neurologist suggested it. I bless the day he did.

I know some of you are finding this out about me right now. Medical marijuana has been a Godsend to me. You can say what you want but I'll always stand behind the cause of making it legal. People like me may be in a different circumstance and unable to receive approval for medical marijuana, I hope for them that the lawmakers make it legal. I don't smoke the weed itself, I eat it (cooking hash), take it as a capsule, and inhale via vape.

How do you like me now?

7/6/2021 - Great American Roadtrip Part 1

David and I left June 2020 on our Great American Roadtrip and travelled over 10,000 miles and visited 18 states. All in the middle of a pandemic, what were we thinking? Here are some photos of our trip, if the campground was great, I'll leave a link. Some of these places we stayed I'd stay at again.

Mama Gertie's Hideaway Campground

The mountains of North Carolina hold a tender spot in my heart. We camped there when I was a kid and that's where I fell in love with mountains and cold mountain streams.

Twin Lakes Catfish Farm

We camped and ate catfish and hushpuppies and more catfish, and what's catfish without hushpuppies?

Elk City/Clinton KOA Foss, OK

A Mississippi Kite that we saw in Foss, OK. I love taking pictures of birds and clouds.

More to come...come back soon...wait, don't leave...there will be more tomorrow...

7/5/2021 - The morning after, back to reality - Senate voting

Granted Congress does some messed-up stuff but this one caught my eye.

S. 1260: United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021

A bill to establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, and for other purposes.

Look pretty innocuous right? They have to put in amendments like:

S. Amdt 1771 (Braun) to S. 1260: To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain types of human-animal chimeras.

Human-animal chimeras:

a human embryo into which a nonhuman cell or cells (or the component parts thereof) have been introduced to render the embryo's membership in the species Homo sapiens uncertain;
a chimera human/animal embryo produced by fertilizing a human egg with nonhuman sperm;
chimera human/animal embryo produced by fertilizing a nonhuman egg with human sperm;
an embryo produced by introducing a nonhuman nucleus into a human egg;
an embryo produced by introducing a human nucleus into a nonhuman egg;
an embryo containing at least haploid sets of chromosomes from both a human and a nonhuman life form.
a nonhuman life form engineered such that human gametes develop within the body of a nonhuman life form; or
a nonhuman life form engineered such that it contains a human brain or a brain-derived wholly or predominantly from human neural tissues.

Now as a thinking person I believe these to be unethical. As a Senator in Delaware, I think this is a good idea.

Senator Coons and Carper both voted Nay. The vote was 48-49, thankfully the amendment was rejected as they required a 3/5.

Tell me how you sleep at night knowing you voted for these two clowns. Also, tell me how you sleep at night after viewing the human-animal chimera from Google images. Terrifying!

7/4/2021 - Independence Day

On this day, in 1776, the Continental Congress declared the thirteen colonies were no longer subject to the Monarch of Britain. It declared we were united, free, and independent. We were no longer beholding to anyone. We were free.

Freedom is nothing to take for granted. None of us living in the United States has been enslaved to a person or another country. It's a freedom we all can appreciate, it's a freedom we can love. All of us. You may not appreciate that freedom, some don't, but it's freedom nonetheless.

This day has been relegated to fireworks and parades but let's take a moment and think of all this country has been through, is going through, and will go through. Take a moment and relish the great country we were born in.

May God bless America!

7/3/2021 - What do you do when the candle burns out?

I love candles. I don't burn them as much as I want (or remember). Once those amazing smells burn down to the end, what do you do with the jars? Seriously, what do you do?

I could probably count 3 or 4 empty candle jars in my room. I can't find it in me to throw them away. I keep thinking there is something I can put in them. But nope, they sit empty, maybe with a little trace of candle wax still in them. Some are so pretty I don't want to throw them away, some are just empty.

Now you tell me, is this weird? p.s. I already know the answer to that.

Use of empty candle jars:

1. Change keepers.

2. Pour new wax and make a new candle.

3. Make a terrarium.

4. Use in your pantry? Yankee candles, maybe.

5. Desk organization e.g., rubber bands, paper clips, etc.

6. Craft storage.

7. Sit on my shelf and collect dust.

8. Flower vase.

Candle jar reuse on Pinterest

You can find hundreds of ways to reuse those jars on Pinterest. This one I love and may use:

I guess I'm not the only person that can't throw them away.

#keepDawnweird

7/2/2021 - It's hard for me - some insight on MS

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) eight years ago. That's my diagnosis date but not the onset of the disease. I don't know when the onset was.

When I was a child we lived on a farm. I think it was one of the better experiences I had. That was back when I liked cats, and we had A LOT! The morning milking of the cow was ours, the second milking the cats. I remember hanging out in the hayloft with kittens all around me. I can remember laying on my side in the hay playing with a cat when one kitten walked up the side of my leg, it hurt. Now as a kid what you experience feels normal so you don't tell anyone. I mean who'd believe a tiny kitten can hurt your legs. I don't know if this was the onset of MS or Fibromyalgia in my life. My Mom would poo-poo all the pain to "growing pains". I'm still having them and God only knows I don't want to be growing.

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS). All the nerves in your CNS are coated in a fatty substance called myelin. Myelin insulates the nervous system's "wires", like the coating on an electrical cord. MS attacks the myelin in the CNS. The damage can cause such symptoms as muscle weakness, numbness, tingling, itching, and also cause vision problems. I've had all these symptoms and more. The pain and optic neuritis (a lesion on my left optic nerve) sent me to my first Neurologist. I went through a lot of testing including tests for Lyme's disease and many others. My first MRI did show I had a lesion on my optic nerve and several small lesions in my brain. I wanted to get a second opinion, and I did. The next Neurologist said the MS diagnosis was iffy, so more testing, even a spinal tap. He wasn't convinced soooooooo, onto my third and current Neurologist. He confirmed the MS diagnosis along with his colleague. I've been on three different MS disease-modifying drugs, my current one, so far, has been working good for me. This medicine is from a specialty pharmacy, I can't go to Walgreen's and pick it up. It's very expensive and I thank God the manufacturer has given me a very low deductible. I'm saved over $20,000 for three months. Actually, if I didn't have that discount I'd never take the drugs.

My MS, like everyone else's MS, is different. That damage of the myelin can be anywhere in the CNS. I don't have any lesions in my spinal cord, they are all located in my brain.

MS is a progressive disease, it never gets better, it only gets worse. No one knows the cause of MS. There is no cure for MS. The disease-modifying drugs may slow down exacerbations. An exacerbation is the worsening of the disease, maybe a temporary worsening or permanent damage. I have pseudo-exacerbations which are temporary worsening of my symptoms, or new ones, which get better after a few days. Some triggers for me are high heat, stress, cold, and exercise of any form, like cleaning. Air conditioning blowing on me hurts, yeah, it's nuts.

My daily woes are pain, mostly in the lower back and legs; heat intolerance, and cold intolerant. I stumble through life and look like a drunk. I literally bump into most door jambs, walls, refrigerator, and stove. I have brain fog. I can't remember words and have to describe things I mean. I can't remember things I've memorized, like the 23rd Psalm. I can't remember names but I'll always remember your face, weird. I'll start a conversation and then forget where I was headed with the thought. Yeah, I know, you have that too...try ALL THE TIME.

MS is a progressive disease. I'll leave it there.

7/1/2021 - Who really cares? And so it begins...

Who really cares about what's going on with the country?

Who really cares that an Olympic athlete disrespects her country?

Who really cares that our border has been overrun by illegals flooding into the country?

Who really cares that the virus came from Wuhan China, through a lab leak?

Who really cares that our president may have dementia at best, flat our stupid more likely?

Who really cares that race relations in the country are tearing us apart?

Who really cares that people representing and running this country hate it?

Who really cares if a few cops are killed?

Who really cares if our cities are wastelands of crimes?

Who really cares that the democrats are for research in human-chimeras? (Google it)

Who really cares if the president chooses to run the country by Executive Order?

Who really cares if there is a war against white people?

Who really cares about real voting integrity?

Who really cares if the government wants to take away our right to keep and bear arms?

Who really cares if our first amendment rights are trampled on?

Who really cares if you are safe?

The answer, me.