sick and tired etc.

I am not well.  Surely it is not serious.  I had my flu shot.  Ebola was stuck in Dallas.  I did go to the Fair in Dallas - did a ebola nurse go to the Fair when I did?  
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My nose runs.  My eyes hurt.  My ears are ineffective.  There is a burring sound in my head.  If I move around too much my legs ache.  Sleeping is filled with strange dreams.  Appetite is not too affected in that I can eat, but I really don't crave eating.  How did this happen?
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My wife and I made a trip to the State Fair one week ago Monday - 13th I believe.  Y'know, Friday the 13th came on Monday this month.  We did that.  On the following Thursday we drove to our old hometown Levelland for my wife's cousin's reunion.  My nose dripped some on that trip, nothing serious.  My wife's nose started dripping about the time we went through Post.  If you know the Panhandle lay of the land, that is about 45 minutes or so southeast of Lubbock.
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We figured it was an allergy. Obviously = looking back = we were wrong.
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We drove straight through Lubbock and on to Levelland about 30 miles to the west.  By this time her allergy was going full-blown.  A trip to Walmart gave us nose pills which she dutifully took.  Today I know how terrible she must have felt.
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She took her pills and my nose dripped once in a while.   Sunday we drove to Lubbock and spent the night with son Roger and Penney and the grandgirls.   By Monday morning, my nose was in full flush.  We are home and the action has not let  up.   I have a serious cold or a non-serious case of the flu.  It comes and it goes.  Right now it is relaxing; but, just wait 30 minutes and I"ll be in bad shape again  (stopping to sneeze).
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Sympathy.  That is what I want.  Sympathy.
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Back to Levelland.
The reunion of her cousins was simply great.  
(stopping to blow nose) 
[ don't come in this house right now - you do not want this experience ]  
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I won't list all the cousins; there is a crowd - you might think of it as a crowd which can fill up a living room really fine.  Some of them are double cousins due to marriages of parents and relatives.  The Machas and the Glenns and the Kahaniks (that word is misspelled)  and other relatives born from that group plus spouses, of course.  My wife's mom was a Macha.
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I wasn't sure what would happen in Levelland - it isn't what you'd call a fun city to most.  In some previous reunions held in fancier locations, the females went shopping while the guys sat around and watched Tech play football.  Not this time.  We went on a tour of Levelland and, later, Hockley County.  For Levelland people, that description might seem like a joke within itself. A tour of Levelland.  It was no joke.  Driving in two cars connected by cellphones we looked at the new Levelland - some pretty fancy buildings - and revisited the old home places.
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My home on 15th street - a stone in itself - had been remodeled on the outside.  It had a metal roof, new siding, and actual grass in the front yard.  A car port had been added to the west side.  The new owners are working people  They had big oil field worker trucks around and about.  The old place didn't look too bad.  An old guy leaning on his walker in the driveway, gave us suspicious looks as we casually drove past.
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My wife's home place on 8th street is a mess.  It has to be a rental now.  The fence was torn down.  The cellar was covered over.  There were holes in the garage.  And, the yard was spotted with holes and no grass.  I think it made my wife sad to see how it had gone down.  Her mom had that house spotless inside and out.  You could roll around in the grass.  There use to be a beautiful Lilac bush in the back yard which smelled wonderful.  That house and her family is another future blog.
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In tornado Panhandle of Texas, why would anyone cover up a cellar?
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Summarize time.  We had a very good time in Levelland.  My wife so enjoys seeing all her cousins and reliving the old days.  There was some sadness and some nice times. The food was great - even when we just had a sandwich, the best. More than one family member brought Klubosniks.   Look that one up in your cookbook.  I know that Brenda Joy is already looking forward to our next get together in 2015.
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Now, if only I can shake this cold.
m3