You should be so lucky!

Everyone alive should have a birthday like I had. What a truly magnificent event it was. So good I almost didn't mind being as old as I am. In fact Genevieve and Audrey's little cousin Lizzie came over for awhile this evening and while she was eating birthday cake she asked me how old I was. When I told her she said "Wow, that's OLD!" It was so cute, kids are so completely innocent in their honesty. It would be great if adults could be the same instead of just brutal in theirs.
I was blessed to spend a great part of the day with my daughter who I don't see nearly often enough. She took me to have a pedicure which was most needed since I have trouble seeing my toes much less giving them any attention. Then we went to lunch and looked around in the Mall for a little while.
When she brought me home, my family had gathered for a little surprise party complete with strawberry cake (my fave), pizza and lots of laughter. I got loads of birthday wishes and a card from my daughter Angie that seemed to have a very artistic rendering of my backside (not sure how they were able to pull that one off) :) I also got a certificate for a massage and a facial from my husband so I was VERY happy. I was able to see all my grandchildren but Abby, Kaleah and the two Calebs :( My son Larin who is always the bringer of interesting gifts taped a raw shrimp and a package of parmesan cheese to a piece of yellow legal pad paper and presented it to me. Unfortunately, he ate the shrimp himself, he did however leave the cheese. And we all know cheese IS the gift that keeps on giving. I spoke with my mom who remembered my birthday (inside joke) and I also heard from my 2 sons who are working out of town. A girl couldn't ask for a better day. And this is what I looked like as I turned 59 (Kaylee will tell you that I Photoshop the crap out of my pictures) and I do. I don't have that skill for my health you know. Thanks to everyone who made my day a perfect one.

The Real Housewives

I have recently caught a few episodes of the Real Housewives of Orange County and the Real Housewives of New York. What a hoot! These women are like no housewives I know. I mean really people can the common ordinary, Pledge wielding, toilet scrubbing, snotty nose wiping woman really relate? I think not.
What I would like to see is the Real Housewives of LeFlore County. Now there are some women we could really enjoy. Think of the possibilities. Trips to Wal-Mart in their pastel sweatsuits, backyard barbecues on their homemade grill constructed from bricks and a old refrigerator rack complete with swimming in the stock pond. And then they could always have a monthly episode of waiting for the assistance checks to arrive. Volumes could be filmed recording their driving escapades. I honestly was behind a car with one of those green and white tags once that had lawn chairs for a backseat.
Okay, now before you send me hate mail, I'm trying to be funny here. And admit it, you did chuckle at least once. But there is an element of truth to what I say. And the same could be said for a few counties right here in Arkansas which shall remain nameless. I am after all loyal to my geography. Regular women UNITE and demand Housewife programs that cover the entire range of our talent and skill. I really couldn't care less how many times the Countess shows up in the society pages. Nor do I particularly enjoy "Vicki" and her WooooooHooooo personality (I know a couple of those) she is her own biggest fan and has no clue that everyone else thinks she's arrogant and conceited. Or Lynn who seems to pride herself on standing around with her mouth half open looking dazed and confused (how she made it on TV is a mystery - the woman has NO personality.) Give me my aunt who sees people who aren't there at night or my mom who can't remember anything or even me and my BFF Judy who are contesting to see who can accumulate the most dogs. These are some real housewives with depth and the ability to laugh at themselves and not take life quite so seriously.

Lazy day

Wow, I am exhausted after my trip. I don't think I could stand a real live vacation right now. I have been working in Photoshop restoring some old photographs that my aunt gave me. I have found some that really thrill me to have. Like the one of my Great grandpa wearing his peace officer badge and of him and my great grandmother before their hair turned gray. I am getting loads of info from distant relative that are still living and that is great. I am even onto a lead concerning my Uncle Doyle's boys. We haven't seen Sammy since he was around 7 and we never met Doyle Jr. It has been the source of great mystery to us for years and it would be so nice to be able to tie down that loose end.
I think I'll go for now, I'm ready for bed and it is not even 7:00 pm. Tomorrow I will be posting pictures of new jewelry on my www.raindancer.vpweb.com site and I will be tallying up my loose change for cha cha change. I know you are really excited to see how much coin I accumulated on my trip. Talk tomorrow! :)

I'm baaaaack!

Made it home in one piece and I am so glad I made this trip. The most incredible thing I uncovered was a small picture of my great grandmother and great grandfather when they still had dark hair. I had never seen even a picture of them when they were younger so this was quite a find. My great grandparents were pretty old people when I was a child, my granny lived to be 103 years old so I never remember a time when they weren't elderly. I have loads and loads of newspaper clippings and old photos to sort through. Here's a hint for anyone who decides to tackle their genealogy. Buy a Kodak all in 1 printer and take it with you to relatives houses. You can scan photos and print them also any kind of documents and you don't need your computer. You can also take the memory card from you digital camera and print pictures on the spot. This made my job so much easier. More later.

Super Pumped!

I am so excited! I went by the shop today to run my inventory and I had sold about $65.00 worth of jewelry! WHOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO. I won't belabor that issue but I was certainly pleased.
My oldest BFF Linda left a comment on my blog. (Linda's not the oldest - just my friend I've had for the longest :) ) It was super good to hear from her. Linda, you know I love you! I wish we were closer too and we could go celebrate. I would totally try to find us a couple of lettuce truck drivers (inside joke).
I'm trying to get my stuff together for my trip tomorrow. I'm not sure how I feel about spending the night with someone who sees people who aren't there. I'll probably die of fright if she freaks on me. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that there won't be any posting going on for a couple of days while I'm gone.
If you are family, please check on Roger! Someone needs to call him everyday and ask him if he has taken his medicine. Right now, I'm having to do everything but blow it down his throat with a straw because even if I lay it out, he will walk past it and ignore it. Busy, busy, busy bee!
I will miss everyone and miss dropping my blog bombs everywhere but I'll be back on Wed. sometime no doubt with loads of stories to tell.
Peace

Making Plans

I have a busy week ahead. I'm going to Jacksonville to see my Aunt and look through all the stuff she has in boxes and trunks that pertain to family history. I'm a little curious as to why she has this stuff. She has no biological children and I worry about important family memories eventually being in the hands of people that are not connected by blood to those memories.
I'm going to go to dinner and a movie with my BFF Judy and I'm really excited about that. Judy is the one person in my life who always tries to make me feel special on my special day. I'm a big birthday kind of girl. I've always felt like your birthday was very special to YOU. You share all the other holidays with the rest of the world, but your birthday is YOUR day. I'm not as bad as my friend Gina used to be. She celebrated her birth month and you had to be nice to her for a whole month, what a pain! :)
I have to call in about Jury duty and if my group's case doesn't settle, I'll be making the rounds at the courthouse again.
Tomorrow I need to go and run my jewelry inventory and make sure I have accounted for everything. And I have to do laundry before I head to Aunties.
Then Saturday is my birthday and this one is really a big deal. My last before I hit the big 6 0. Wow, where has my life gone? Unlike my mother, I can remember vividly my days in school, my early 20s, when my children were born and the things they did as kids, all my triumphs as well as my mistakes, I remember it all and I wonder how I will be remembered. I received a message today from a girl I went to school with who was quite a bit younger than me. She told me she remembered me as a cheerleader and couldn't remember any of the others because I was the only one who was ever nice to her. I can't tell you how good that made me feel. As older people I think we all wonder how we were perceived as kids. What is funny is I don't remember her at all. I do remember her older sister and her dad who was our high school custodian but not her. It did serve to enforce for me the fact that we all leave our imprint on the world and we never know who we are effecting with our behavior. It should tend to make us all more careful every day of how we treat each person we encounter.
I'm hitting the hay now in anticipation of a busy day.
Peace out.

Just a springin'

Well, it is official, spring must be nearing the corner. My daffodils are blooming. One wants to ask them, are you out of your mind? Do you know you are probably going to get your noses nipped? But they persist on. Happy little precursors to Spring. I'm glad to see them, it means there is hope for a brighter tomorrow and that no matter what life goes on, buds become flowers and dreams can and will become realities. It was good for me to see them swaying today, I've spent way too many hours digging around in the past, trying to flesh out the bones of my ancestors. Now, I'm anxiously on hold awaiting the full donning of the earth's spring apparel. Hurry buds down below, up you've got to grow!

Crawling back over the rim of the bowl

Well, I'm almost finished with my PITY party, not quite but almost. I'm going to pout for a little while longer and then I'll be done.
I think maybe I've done a bad thing. When both of us became unemployed I decided to try to make my thyroid medication last as long as possible. It isn't really expensive but I thought maybe I could manage without taking it everyday. Guess what....I think perhaps I shouldn't have done that. Obviously if one doesn't have a thyroid gland, one needs to make allowances for that. I know it was foolish but I really didn't think it would matter that much. Someone quick revoke my layman's medical license.
On a happier note.....I have now placed a pretty good little inventory in Angie's shop. I have punch cards that I use for customers. So if you would like a punch card for purchase or know people who like jewelry ALOT, let me know and I'll send you some cards to have on hand. I would really like this to take off. My pieces are all really pretty and different. I'm going to attach the website to this blog as well. I am trying to take pictures of some of the prettiest items to post there. Hopefully, I can start moving this and it will also increase the traffic to Pure Bliss too.
Two of my darling granddaughters have been sick with stomach stuff and I feel so bad for them. I know how it feels to be sick at school, kids can be so cruel. I'll never forget the day I needed to go to the restroom really bad and the teacher wouldn't let me go because we were cleaning out our desks. Our desks were the kind that had a chair with a desk top attached to it via an arm on one side and the little bin that held your books was under the chair. In those days, we wore the big dresses with petticoats. I was in terrible pain so I spread my dress out and went in the floor and soaked it up with notebook paper. I was so embarrassed, but there was nothing else I could do. Fortunately for me, kids were not so quick to make fun for each other then and my classmates helped me hide the evidence. I've never forgiven that teacher and never forgotten how miserable it is to be powerless against someone willing to exercise their ultimate control over you.
Hopefully the tummy bug is gone now and everyone is feeling MUCH better, I sure hope so because they all have a big dance to go to this weekend. :)

Dove to the bottom of the bowl and found the pits

You know I really try to be positive about things but sometimes it just doesn't work. It amazes me how inconsiderate people can be that supposedly "care" about you.
Today was my 17th anniversary which officially makes my marriage to Roger the longest relationship I've had. Do ya think anyone bothered to remember? Nope, nada, zero, ziltch, zip, kaput. After trying very hard to stay on top of everyone else's birthday's, anniversaries, etc. and doing whatever little thing I could to make sure they didn't go unnoticed, I sat here all day with no recognition of my special day.
To make matters worse, even my husband who was gone all day didn't even take 5 minutes to buy a cheap card. I guess I offically know where I rate with everyone. Although I have been told repeatedly that things just aren't about me and so now obviously even dates that are special to me aren't about me either. LOL
There! I've had my pity party and I'm done, actually more done than anyone realizes.
I am making great headway on my geneaology stuff and have actually uncovered a very distant relation that is working on part of the same line I am and we have been able to fill in lots of gaps for each other. I'm really enjoying it too. It is like meeting new friends (unfortunately they just aren't living).
This is a short post, I haven't been feeling great this week and I'm going to go to bed and hope for a better tomorrow. It would be nice to wake up one morning and not feel like someone had set fire to your joints and muscles. Nice to be able to walk to the kitchen instead of hopping on one foot just once :)
I am starting a new sub-blog using an idea that Kaylee gave me with a site she found called The Change Pot. I named mine something else though. I just thought this was a cute idea and I'm going to try to keep track of my spare change. However, 'tupid that I am, I've built it and can't find it because I can never find where the url addresses for these sites show up so you can copy them and link them. Any help here would be MOST appreciated. Going now to through those pits in the trash and buy a whole new bunch of fresh cherries.

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday I learned of the death of an old friend. Subsequently, I decided to attend the family's visitation yesterday evening.
This was a difficult situation for me. The man who died was at one time my father-in-law. At a particularly low period in my life I did a very stupid thing and married someone who was quite a bit younger than me. Looking back, I'm sure his parents wanted to either send him away to camp or kill me. They did neither. What they did was embrace me and my children, let us live in their house with them and then let us stay there when they moved out. We paid utilities and that was it. One year at Christmas when we had no money, my father-in-law took my car and had 4 brand new tires put on it, filled it up with gas and handed us some money and told my husband to take me and my children home to see my parents.
But perhaps the greatest kindness of all was the kindness and love he showed my daughter.
Given the fact that this was a marriage doomed from the start, it eventually ran its' course and my prince charming went away. My daughter had been selected as the basketball court maid from her class and the girls were all to be walked in the ceremony by their fathers. Her own "bio" father was far away and could not be there and the newly departed step-dad made a hard and fast promise that he would be there to walk her.
I knew that while his intentions might be good, I also knew he was totally without any conscience when it came to doing what was right as opposed to what he wanted to do. I was determined that my baby would not be disappointed or embarrassed so I called and explained the situation to "D". He never hesitated for one moment. He assured me that I need not worry, nor did I need to pursue that issue any further with his son.
On the night he was needed, he put on his (much hated to wear) suit, showed up at the school gym, and proudly walked my daughter for the whole town to see.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but is this not the measure of a real and good man? Over the course of the last 20 years, "D" had suffered with a wide variety of health issues, but anytime I saw him, he was always glad to see me and asked after my kids and my mother. Stepping out of his comfort zone and his own problems was a trait he possessed with everyone. The visitation last night was a crush of people. They are a big family which contributed to the size of the crowd, but the acquaintances, friends and simply people "D" touched in his lifetime overwhelmed the room. His widow told me she wasn't sure she had any friends, she thought they were all "D's". He had one of those personalities that other people seem to orbit around.
For me it was good to be able to say goodbye not just to him but to a chapter in my life that had never really been finished.
Each person that we touch in life leaves us with a lesson. From "D" I learned that anytime I am faced with an uncomfortable decision to make or am asked to step out of what makes ME feel good - I must put on that hated suit, put a smile on my face and think about what is going to make someone else feel good. And show up and do the right thing.

Blazing the Path to the Past

I have renewed my geneology quest. I get so frustrated when I encounter one brick wall after another. The Mormon site is free and is a good source but it will only take a person just so far. There are tons of my family members who don't even show up on their site that have passed away during my lifetime. If anyone knows of other resources I can utilize I would be most grateful. I need to take a drive to Sherman Texas and see my cousin who has done extensive research on my biological father's side of my family. I need to start to work on my mom's side quickly since she and my Aunt are the only people left in my family and as stated before Mom doesn't remember me sometimes much less what happened years ago. Aunt Rose has a good memory, it just needs nudging to get it started and I think a project might be good for her. Maybe her nocturnal visitors would get bored and go away. I have been able to find out that my Great Grandfather worked on a ranch in the Texas panhandle that was owned by Alfred Rowe who was one of the passengers that perished on the Titanic. And I was able to located my Great Grandmother as a 2 year old in an 1880 Census but past that no cigar.
It is interesting to work on this stuff and I know that while my kids aren't interested now they will be someday and I would like to be able to leave them their heritage. I've even managed to spark Roger's interest. His ancestors came from France (some disagreement with the Pope apparently) and they fled to America, however, from what we have been able to glean so far, they traveled back and forth quite a lot until they finally settled here.
I hope everyone has a great week!

Leaving V Day behind and sneaking up on St. Pat

Well, Valentine's Day is but a memory. I hope your Sweetheart memories are good enough for the book of your life. We have had a great time with the G-children. The coughing of their Pawpaw is even wearing on their nerves. :)
Now it's time to see how many of us have the luck 'o the Irish. Remember to dig out your green wear for St. Paddy's Day. Pssssst.....I have a lovely green necklace and earrings for sale at Pure Bliss if you are needing to accessorize an ordinary green outfit. www.raindancer.vpweb.com
I'm going now to try to get the girls to close those little eyes and go nitey night. Meemaw is very tired now and needs to rest. We had a great time this evening making up fractured lyrics to the song "The Wind Beneath My Wings". Some of our best were, The Wind inside my beans, the holes inside my cheese, the green within my peas, the itch that comes with fleas, the scrapes on top of knees, the arms within my sleeves. We've gotta million of 'em and we'll be here all week, folks!
Peace -

It's V Day at the Kiddie Corral

Happy Sweetheart's Day everyone! I hope cupid shoots your main squeeze right in the hindquarters and causes them to bring you lots of evidence of their love for you.
As for me and my house, we will be spending Valentine's Day with our favorite sweethearts, our grandkids. We will be hosting Kaleb for a while today while his mom gets people beautiful for their romantic "dates" and then Genevieve and Audrey will be coming this afternoon sometime to spend the night. Their parents are going to spend some quality one on one time with each other. I did manage to get out long enough to "score" a Valentine card for Roger so at least he won't go unnoticed. I've been busy building a little simple website for my jewelry biz. Check it out at www.raindancer.vpweb.com I'm not finished with it, I hope to include a gallery that shows some of the pieces as well. I'm hoping to accomplish a couple of things here. 1st to showcase my pieces and 2nd to maybe drive some walk-in business to Angie's salon. Her location for walk in trade is not the best since there just isn't a lot of trade type business close to her. But, maybe we can both benefit from just a little advertising.
I'm excited to know that the Fort Smith School system has corresponded with my references on my application. Maybe that will turn into something positive as well. I am at the point right now that I just can't afford to put all my eggs in one basket for fear someone will trip and break them.
I am very frustrated trying to write closed to the Bellah's chapter of my book. There is a small project that got dropped which has the potential to become a huge messy deal. Since I am the only person of contact these people have they are looking to me for answers. And, since my reputation matters to me I am going to fix it at some personal expense. I'm just really tired of hearing how they just don't really care if something is messed up or not. There! Done with that.
Roger and I watched an in home demonstration for a Pro-Aqua last night and I really wish we were in a position to get one of these right now. I'm not interested in the whole vacuum system part, but the air filtration would really be great for us I think. I have Kaylee's old Hyla unit and I run it from time to time but it is pretty loud and since Roger is here all day trying to make business calls, etc. it just isn't too practical to use. The Pro-Aqua has a variable speed motor and runs super quiet.
Well, I guess I'd better go do something productive like nail down breakables before the kiddoes get here. Just kidding, they are all really good for us but I do think they might enjoy a new movie and some new coloring books.
Happy Valentine's Day. Consider yourself KISSED!

The coughing is going to kill me

Okay, Roger's coughing woke me at 2:15 am this morning and I have been up ever since. I've looked back and this particular ailment started in September. I am about to lose my mind! We aren't talking little throat clearing coughs here, we are talking about shake the bed and rattle the door frames.
The nursery job is on indefinite hold, however, I may be working for that same guy in his landscaping business. I am going to try to post his logo here and give you some info on him. If you need a great landscaper, etc. I think he would do a great job for you. I've seen his work and he takes a lot of pride in doing a quality job.
Nothing much is new with me - same old same old. Mom seems to be better. I hope I have talked her into trying to eat a little more healthy. The woman will eat a container of ice cream in a day and little else. She absolutely loves sweets, hates meat so working on her diet is challenging. However, I think she has a touch of IBS and that is what causes her intense stomach pains from time to time.
Guess I'll go and hold the couch down for a while. Then when Roger gets up I think I'll go back to bed. :)

Behind all the time

Well, I'm officially behind on everything I could possibly be behind on. I did serve on Jury duty yesterday and I have to say it was one of the most interesting things I have ever done. Really if more people realized that it isn't as limiting as one thinks, more people would welcome the opportunity to serve and learn a lot in the process. I always thought that if you were in the "pool" you were on call every day for 3 months. Actually you have a reporting day once a week and you call ahead the evening before to find out if you have to show up or not. Most cases in Sebastian county are settle out of court so there are some people who serve who literally never have to appear in the courtroom again after orientation. Since I am at sixes and sevens and have nothing better to do, I am really liking the education it is providing me. I did sit on a real jury yesterday and being able to see the process up close and personal is MUCH different than Law & Order :)
My jewelry is selling pretty well given the traffic available where it is so I am hopeful that will continue to improve. Maybe my "pretty" pieces will help the salon pull in some business it might not ordinarily have.
We are due for storms tonight so I need to clear a place in my garage for my car. I think if it got beat to "hail" I would lay down and cry right now.
Heart day approaches and if you haven't gotten your best girl a gift, may I recommend the lovely pieces of jewelry presented by RainDancer Treasures exclusively at Pure Bliss salon. I am paying your sales tax on anything with a heart until Feb. 14th. (Shameless plug)
I have sent out resumes and applications everywhere I can think of and have told everyone in the world I need a job, but so far no cigar. I remain hopeful however but please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. And my name on your lips should anyone mention needing a spectacular employee.
Gotta go and be productive!

Being Moved by the Music

Kody's band concert was this evening. He is in the Wind Symphony which is the primo band at Southside. They played some really nice music but they ended with a piece that was written about the Korean conflict. Even without an explanation regarding what this piece of music was supposed to convey, you knew.
I have never heard a piece so expressive that you literally could close your eyes and see helicopters flying overhead, the roar of the ocean and the staccato sounds of sniper fire. Mixed in with haunting Korean melodies on the flute, oboe and clarinet is was amazingly beautiful. And they performed it so well. I was grateful I had the opportunity to hear this concert in general but this piece in particular. Kody leaves tomorrow for All State Band Concert, fingers crossed everyone!
He is still trying to raise money to go with the band to Hawaii at the end of the school year. His parents are making pretty hefty payments toward that end now that family donations have trickled out. I hope he gets to go, it is a great opportunity for him.
I'm pushing my tired old bones to bed. U-Verse people coming tomorrow and I need to get up in the morning and shovel out Roger's office. He has been denned up in there for 3 days nursing some unknown illness. I don't know what is wrong but he is cranky as a bear.

Changes and Updates

I have removed the "Praying for Harper" link - she is going home tomorrow to her own house with her mommy and daddy and there she will meet her fuzzy brother Dawson. Thank you to everyone who took a moment to look at this blog and offer prayer for this little girl. She is a true miracle baby and I am very happy for her whole family.
I spent the day today with Debbra (Tommy Jack's girlfriend) and she is really good for my spirits. We had lunch, went to Angie's salon to look over my jewelry and then......we spent quite a lot of time in a local tattoo parlor. Don't panic, my body is still unembellished! Debbra's brother died a while back and she and her daughter wanted to do something permanent to honor him so they had a momento of something special to him placed on their persons. Actually if you've never been in a tattoo establishment, they are pretty interesting. I can check this experience off my "bucket list." I had no idea they let you watch them tattoo. You can stand outside the room and view the work in progress through a window. It was weird. I didn't know if it was more like a "peep" show or people viewing babies at the nursery. I'M KIDDING!!! Please don't send hate mail :)
I also got a nice email from my former boss who leaves tomorrow for France to attend culinary school. Wow! What a culture shock! What an opportunity! I hope it turns out to be everything he hopes for.
This is a busy month for me. And it is a short month. Our family has loads of anniversaries this month. I never realized we were such romantic people :) And we have birthdays as well. I have the U-Verse people coming Friday and Kody has a band concert tomorrow night.
I think I'm going to shut down for this evening and put myself to bed. Peace and Love everyone.

And the Eagle Has Landed

What a good day! It is always exciting to see one of your grandchildren recognized for stepping up. Genevieve was so tickled to get her Golden Eagle. I think it might have not been a huge surprise since she spotted us in the crowd and pointed us out to her classmates, I think one of them may have clued her in that meant she had won. But she was pretty stoked. As I was downloading the pictures from the event, it struck me again how much she looks like Matt. Genevieve has such a good heart and I see her do things a lot that warrant being recognized but like so many good deeds, sometimes hers go unnoticed. I was amazed that she didn't win a few months ago when she asked us if one of her classmates could have lunch with us on Grandparent's Day because his grandparent had died. She provided us with such a blessing that day and we would have completely missed it except for her kind little heart. I've said it for several years now but I think she will be one of those people that everyone in town will know. She is a unique and wonderful individual full of energy and life. My prayer is that she will always have that big zest for life and she will continue to "always go for the big finish."

And She Walks

Reported for jury duty and as soon as they explained the details of the case, I knew I might as well have stayed in bed this morning. It was a domestic abuse case and the defense didn't retain any juror who had been the victim of spousal abuse. So no good stories today other than the girl who sat right next to me was chosen as the last juror which means she had been sitting there for around 3 hours and had needed to go to the bathroom for at least one hour of those 3. After she was chosen they trotted back in all the other retained jurors and started the trial. I think they forgot that all the other jurors had been able to potty and get a drink while the last set were being questioned. Poor girl....now I'll worry about her all day. But the good news is I get to go and watch Genevieve get her Golden Eagle Award!

The Worry Factor

I am so fortunate to be the age I am and still have my mom around. Not only do I have her but I have her younger sister as well. Mom and her sister have always been really close. One of those I can talk about her but no one else can types of relationships. The have had some of the most amazing cat fights I have ever witnessed but I think the shared hardships of their growing up forged a bond deeper than even they realize.
And, here I sit in the middle of the distance between them geographically. I am actually closer in distance to my aunt than my mom, but I feel like the relay station on the prarie sometimes.
My uncle died last year after a lengthy illness and since his passing my aunt has had some interesting times. I know she is lonely but she resists having anyone come and stay with her. Now she is seeing people in her house at night. Not the same people everynight but a wide and diverse grouping of characters pay her nocturnal visits.
I talked to her today about these manifestations and to my relief she realizes that they aren't really there, however, she refuses to accept that she might be dreaming. I was further relieved to know that she does accept the fact that she is hallucinating. I think this is a positive thing. At least she is willing to admit that her "guests" aren't actually flesh and blood people. I have encouraged her to go to the doctor and tell him what is happening and to tell him about all her medications and when she takes them and how she takes them. Since I don't think she enjoys regular nightcaps I have to think some of her meds are not playing nicely together.
I truly wish she and my mom would find a nice little house here in Fort Smith together where I could worry about them during a 20 minute drive as opposed to trips that take all day and night or 1/2 a day.
I also really hope that when the time comes for me to become such a worry to my kids they will push me off a cliff somewhere. :) I'm kidding......sort of. I really don't ever want to get to the point in life that I can't just be responsible for myself.
Afterthought......I am reporting tomorrow for real jury duty so I should get some good stories out of this new experience!