This will probably be my last posting. On the outside possibility that there is anyone who reads regularly I thought I would at least give them the courtesy of saying goodbye.
I can accomplish some of what I hoped to do with this by simply keeping a journal for myself. I had hoped to stimulate some interesting feedback with a blog but that has failed to materialize.
I have enjoyed doing it and it has certainly honed some of my lesser computer skills but it isn't productive for anyone to simply come to the site just to read. In fact things like that can become a chore and I know everyone is much busier than they care to be right now.
Life really is a bowl of cherries. If you find a yucky one every now and then it only makes the perfect and sweet pieces all the more enjoyable.
Kisses to all and to all a goodnight.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
The Beshears Karma
Anyone in our family can tell you that as a group we have the most unusual Karma. Take us to a restaurant no matter how classy and if there is one obnoxious A**hole in the place we will be seated next to them. Actually this rule applies to all public events and functions as well.
Projects are afflicted with the need to make at least a dozen trips to various stores to obtain tools, parts, etc. that we already have but can no longer locate. Which means our projects never truly end and the cycle of beginning, restocking, running out of time just repeats over and over again in a dizzying circle.
Trips are the best though. Any trip involving any member of the Beshears family can prove to be something that could be filmed for a revival of the Three Stooges. We might forget to obtain sufficient cash for our trip, leave our debit card at home and then experience a car part failure of epic proportions. We are capable of getting lost in places we have been before. We have engaged the house alarm only to go back in to retrieve something quickly and drive off leaving our home alarm alerting, police, firemen, etc. while we are blissfully oblivious of the chaos that ensues at home.
We have been known to set off our household smoke alarm while merely taking a shower. The fire department finally quit coming so if we ever have a legitimate fire, we are losing everything we own due to "crying wolf" waaaay too many times.
We have welded items of jewelry to our bodies while changing a car battery.
We have hammered our fingers & banged our heads (sometimes twice on the same object within 5 minutes.)
We (meaning I) have bagged a seemingly dead possum in a force flex trash bag only to have the possum escape taking trash bag with it. This one still really bothers me.
We (meaning I) have trapped my car inside the garage with a broken garage door which meant I couldn't get my car out.
We (meaning I) have gotten my big fat butt stuck atop a 6 foot privacy fence trying to retrieve a dumb dog that can't stay in her own yard (shame there's no pictures.) However, I did have severely bruised inner thighs to show for that one.
We are dangerous to ourselves and other living creatures and yet we survive. However, approach us with caution. Because if we don't kill you with our Karma, you might just die laughing.
Projects are afflicted with the need to make at least a dozen trips to various stores to obtain tools, parts, etc. that we already have but can no longer locate. Which means our projects never truly end and the cycle of beginning, restocking, running out of time just repeats over and over again in a dizzying circle.
Trips are the best though. Any trip involving any member of the Beshears family can prove to be something that could be filmed for a revival of the Three Stooges. We might forget to obtain sufficient cash for our trip, leave our debit card at home and then experience a car part failure of epic proportions. We are capable of getting lost in places we have been before. We have engaged the house alarm only to go back in to retrieve something quickly and drive off leaving our home alarm alerting, police, firemen, etc. while we are blissfully oblivious of the chaos that ensues at home.
We have been known to set off our household smoke alarm while merely taking a shower. The fire department finally quit coming so if we ever have a legitimate fire, we are losing everything we own due to "crying wolf" waaaay too many times.
We have welded items of jewelry to our bodies while changing a car battery.
We have hammered our fingers & banged our heads (sometimes twice on the same object within 5 minutes.)
We (meaning I) have bagged a seemingly dead possum in a force flex trash bag only to have the possum escape taking trash bag with it. This one still really bothers me.
We (meaning I) have trapped my car inside the garage with a broken garage door which meant I couldn't get my car out.
We (meaning I) have gotten my big fat butt stuck atop a 6 foot privacy fence trying to retrieve a dumb dog that can't stay in her own yard (shame there's no pictures.) However, I did have severely bruised inner thighs to show for that one.
We are dangerous to ourselves and other living creatures and yet we survive. However, approach us with caution. Because if we don't kill you with our Karma, you might just die laughing.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Full Moon over Miami & Dallas & Fort Smith
Tonight is the biggest full moon of the year and WOW! It is pretty spectacular. And according to scientist, there is no proof that a full moon makes people crazy. Dogs however are a different story.
I am posting a picture I took tonight and it turned out pretty good. This is the last you will hear from me tonight as I'm feeling pretty punked. Have had a blistering headache for 3 days that will not go away so I'm thinking of putting it to bed with a narcotic of some sort.
Have a fun evening. My grandma used to call these moons "spooning moons" so if you have a sweetie, it's time to do some spooning (and I'm not talking about the kind you do in bed) just some good old fashioned hand holding and deep kissing and meaningful sighs. Let me know how it works out for you. :)
Always Go For The Big Finish
When all my grandkids were little and we would sing a song, I would always instruct them to "always go for the big finish." Last night I watched 3 of them in the same program and their music teacher obviously thinks the big finish is important as well.
They all sang their hearts out and each song ended with the final line delivered with gusto! It reminded me that I need to follow my own instruction as well. I need to "go for the big finish" in all I do. Our lives are but a moment so we should always be living as if the big finish is in sight.
I was sitting with some family members (thanks Pat for giving up your seat to a tired old lady.) We were trying to help our youngest grandson see his cousins on the stage. It was hard for him to pick out 1 person among so many squirming little bodies. Eventually he spied Genevieve in her snow hat with her fists rolled into binoculars trying to see family in the crowd. After his uncle walked up close to the stage he was able to see "his Abby" and then PawPaw helped him to see Audrey in her little angel costume to which he stated "Audrey's pretty."
My one regret from last night is that my camera flash is not sufficient to light up my subjects to get decent pictures. I guess my goal this year should be to remedy that situation. I want to do a better job of documenting the year so doing PawPaws calendar next year won't be so challenging. Gotta run, tons to do.
Fa la la la la...........la...........la.........la...........la!
They all sang their hearts out and each song ended with the final line delivered with gusto! It reminded me that I need to follow my own instruction as well. I need to "go for the big finish" in all I do. Our lives are but a moment so we should always be living as if the big finish is in sight.
I was sitting with some family members (thanks Pat for giving up your seat to a tired old lady.) We were trying to help our youngest grandson see his cousins on the stage. It was hard for him to pick out 1 person among so many squirming little bodies. Eventually he spied Genevieve in her snow hat with her fists rolled into binoculars trying to see family in the crowd. After his uncle walked up close to the stage he was able to see "his Abby" and then PawPaw helped him to see Audrey in her little angel costume to which he stated "Audrey's pretty."
My one regret from last night is that my camera flash is not sufficient to light up my subjects to get decent pictures. I guess my goal this year should be to remedy that situation. I want to do a better job of documenting the year so doing PawPaws calendar next year won't be so challenging. Gotta run, tons to do.
Fa la la la la...........la...........la.........la...........la!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Could I Have a Clone Please
Two band concerts in 2 nights makes for very tired meemaw. Of course, tonight I was all set to take a hot bath and change into a fresh set of pajamas when I realized I had somewhere to be at 7:00. I made it just in time. I'm not sure how I looked but I didn't have pjs on which I think is a plus.
I have tomorrow off (I think) and then I can get 3 programs all rolled into 1 on Thursday night. I love this time of the year. It sure keeps me hopping.
It is cooooooooooold tonight. Wow! The wind is blowing and it is downright uncomfortable here in Pigland.
For the 5th time in 2 years, I have been chosen to report for jury duty. Since I was always the only employee at Bellah's I always got a pass. But now, I have no excuse and truthfully I'm kind of looking forward to it. I have a theory that a lot of stupid things happen in our court system because there are so many people who have nothing else to do are filling up the jury box. It will be an interesting experience for me. Maybe I will get to sit on something really exciting.
I have my holiday decorating done except for outside and it really looks like that won't happen. I've wasted too many pretty days. Not stressing over it though.
Santa Claus has been shipping his excess baggage to my house for weeks now. According to him, my grandchildren have been so good that he couldn't pack all their gifts on his sleigh this year so I am providing him a warehouse.
I'm looking forward to the holiday. For once I have plenty of time, am rested and not rushed. Can't wait for Pawpaw to read the Christmas Story out of the Bible. And I think the grandkids and I may just have some fun with The Night Before Christmas.
Signing off now, Darling Husband will be home in a jiffy and I like to spend some time with him before nitey nite. :)
I have tomorrow off (I think) and then I can get 3 programs all rolled into 1 on Thursday night. I love this time of the year. It sure keeps me hopping.
It is cooooooooooold tonight. Wow! The wind is blowing and it is downright uncomfortable here in Pigland.
For the 5th time in 2 years, I have been chosen to report for jury duty. Since I was always the only employee at Bellah's I always got a pass. But now, I have no excuse and truthfully I'm kind of looking forward to it. I have a theory that a lot of stupid things happen in our court system because there are so many people who have nothing else to do are filling up the jury box. It will be an interesting experience for me. Maybe I will get to sit on something really exciting.
I have my holiday decorating done except for outside and it really looks like that won't happen. I've wasted too many pretty days. Not stressing over it though.
Santa Claus has been shipping his excess baggage to my house for weeks now. According to him, my grandchildren have been so good that he couldn't pack all their gifts on his sleigh this year so I am providing him a warehouse.
I'm looking forward to the holiday. For once I have plenty of time, am rested and not rushed. Can't wait for Pawpaw to read the Christmas Story out of the Bible. And I think the grandkids and I may just have some fun with The Night Before Christmas.
Signing off now, Darling Husband will be home in a jiffy and I like to spend some time with him before nitey nite. :)
Monday, December 8, 2008
Reindeer Droppings
I am going to have a Christmas cookie exchange for the girls in the family. I am so excited. I've waited many, many, many years to have the time at Christmas to do little extra fun things that we can do as a family. So I'm looking forward to loads of yummy cookies. PawPaw has really stepped up to the plate for me and has volunteered to take all the little people to the movies. Not sure how he plans on transporting them there but I'm leaving the logistics up to him.
I bought cute paper for my invites and even sprang for the recipe cards for everyone.
Miss Genenvieve is here now helping me with the remainder of my holiday indoor decorating. She was a huge help. Of course my projects are in direct conflict with something called Wow Wow Wubzie but I seem to be holding my own. :)
Gotta go, just learned that one of the grandchildren has a band concert tonight and I'm not exactly sure how we are going to make that work out. Miss G just may have to go with us.
Cherry kisses!
I bought cute paper for my invites and even sprang for the recipe cards for everyone.
Miss Genenvieve is here now helping me with the remainder of my holiday indoor decorating. She was a huge help. Of course my projects are in direct conflict with something called Wow Wow Wubzie but I seem to be holding my own. :)
Gotta go, just learned that one of the grandchildren has a band concert tonight and I'm not exactly sure how we are going to make that work out. Miss G just may have to go with us.
Cherry kisses!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Deck the Halls and the Walls
WooooooHooooooo! My Christmas tree is up....the yuletide season can commence. After Roger's La Huerta birthday extravaganza everyone came back to the house and we hauled out all the holiday stuff. Angie was kind enough to put up my tree and string the lights (my least favorite thing to do. The grandkids put the ornaments on and after hanging about 50 ornaments on 3 branches, we redistributed and everything looks very festive.
Genevieve very kindly consented to Audrey putting the star on top of the tree this year so she is coming tomorrow to help me place all my Christmas dustibles. She was very gracious about it.
I went by the future nursery site and picked out the paint for my new office. I am very pleased it is a nice sunny gold color. I am very excited to be able to look forward to this new enterprise.
I'm pretty pooped. We had dinner at Shogun last night. We were treated by Larin and Jennie (thanks!) and then Mexican today for lunch. I'm stuffed and ready to roll...into bed that is.
If the rest of the holiday season goes as well as the past month has, I will be wonderfully pleased. If the weather is pretty tomorrow I will work on my outdoor decor and that will satisfy me a lot.
My last blog for today. Blogs and kisses everybody!
Huge smoochies and squnchies!
PS: Isn't this a cute Christmas canvas. Angie painted it. I love it!
The Person You Want To Be
Lately I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the person I am and more importantly the person I want to be. The expression that God isn't finished with us yet is certainly a fact. We grow, change, and evolve all the time. Every life event imprints on us and can reshape the person we are. Notice I said CAN. It doesn't have to be that way.
It is easy to watch the storms of life batter our little lifeboats to pieces and allow ourselves to sink beneath the waves. Sometimes we are fortunate and someone throws us a life preserver. Other times we have to reach deep within ourselves and find the courage to swim like crazy to shore.
It is said that no man is an island unto himself. How true is this. Just as we as humans cannot exist without others of our kind, so do the things that affect us ripple out to others. Everything that happens to us not only has a lasting effect on us personally, it also reaches out and touches others.
I spent a great deal of my life mad, sad, depressed, upset, regretful, resentful and on and on. So many of my character traits hurt people around me. A marriage was ruined, children were hurt and I was too selfish and stubborn to learn. I absolutely refused to accept that I had a hand in the things that went wrong.
Of course, eventually I grew up mentally. I came to realize that I had made an awful mess of things. Then the fun really began. I took all of that bad stuff that had happened, shoved it in big old trunk and placed it on my shoulders and began to carry it around with me. The weight of all that guilt, sadness and hurt was enormous and it caused me to sink lower and lower until it finally crushed me.
I never believed it when people told me I was talented, smart, funny, beautiful and valuable. But when the old devil told me I was worthless, ugly, evil and responsible for everything bad that happened....I sure believed him. After all, he was holding up the mirror I was used to looking in and it only confirmed what I believed about myself.
Maybe because I so desperately want to be a better child of God, I decided to give faith a chance. I was much older but I still had loads of people in my life that I loved and wanted to be better for. And they deserved to have the best me I could give them. Even though tons of crap had been sent down the tube, I still had a shovel and was willing to work. I couldn't change yesterday, it had disappeared into history. Tomorrow, was a different story. Tomorrow had not yet been written, I could make my own history with the work I did.
And work it was. Everyday when I woke up I had to make myself look in the mirror and see the person I despised the most. And I had to tell that person that I loved them and was glad to see them. I also had to make myself find one good thing about waking up and living another day. That thing that I found each day had to be packed away in my heart and repeated over and over again. I had to fight the urge to be down on myself and others, learn to be more tolerant of other people's shortcomings and I had to grant myself absolute forgiveness.
I was fortunate. I had people who were valuable to me that I was willing to fight for. Sure it makes me sad that my kids didn't have THIS mother when they were growing up. I can't change that, but I can try to be what they need today. It makes me sad that I wasn't THIS wife before. But I have a spectacular husband who deserves to have the wife I have become. It makes me sad that I didn't try to understand my mother and realize that she fought demons of her own. I wish I could have been a daughter she could be proud of. But fortunately she is still living and she can be proud of me now. I wish I could have been a better friend. It is impossible to have friends without first being a friend. I am blessed that I have a few good friends who love me in spite of who I've been before.
I want to be happy, I want to be valued for my intelligence and common sense, I want to be loved. I want a lot of things but I've come to realize that in order to have all the things I want, I have to give them away. More than anything else I don't want to look back on my whole life and realize that I wasted even one precious moment feeling sorry for myself, being mad, or unhappy. Life is a gift and no matter how badly we wrap it, it is still a treasure of great worth. We can waste it or we can use it. We need to remember that others are watching how we unwrap our gift and it will influence how they view their own.
So, my goal is to continue to look in the mirror and decide if I'm seeing the person I am or the person I want to be. Hopefully, one day both those people will be one and the same.
It is easy to watch the storms of life batter our little lifeboats to pieces and allow ourselves to sink beneath the waves. Sometimes we are fortunate and someone throws us a life preserver. Other times we have to reach deep within ourselves and find the courage to swim like crazy to shore.
It is said that no man is an island unto himself. How true is this. Just as we as humans cannot exist without others of our kind, so do the things that affect us ripple out to others. Everything that happens to us not only has a lasting effect on us personally, it also reaches out and touches others.
I spent a great deal of my life mad, sad, depressed, upset, regretful, resentful and on and on. So many of my character traits hurt people around me. A marriage was ruined, children were hurt and I was too selfish and stubborn to learn. I absolutely refused to accept that I had a hand in the things that went wrong.
Of course, eventually I grew up mentally. I came to realize that I had made an awful mess of things. Then the fun really began. I took all of that bad stuff that had happened, shoved it in big old trunk and placed it on my shoulders and began to carry it around with me. The weight of all that guilt, sadness and hurt was enormous and it caused me to sink lower and lower until it finally crushed me.
I never believed it when people told me I was talented, smart, funny, beautiful and valuable. But when the old devil told me I was worthless, ugly, evil and responsible for everything bad that happened....I sure believed him. After all, he was holding up the mirror I was used to looking in and it only confirmed what I believed about myself.
Maybe because I so desperately want to be a better child of God, I decided to give faith a chance. I was much older but I still had loads of people in my life that I loved and wanted to be better for. And they deserved to have the best me I could give them. Even though tons of crap had been sent down the tube, I still had a shovel and was willing to work. I couldn't change yesterday, it had disappeared into history. Tomorrow, was a different story. Tomorrow had not yet been written, I could make my own history with the work I did.
And work it was. Everyday when I woke up I had to make myself look in the mirror and see the person I despised the most. And I had to tell that person that I loved them and was glad to see them. I also had to make myself find one good thing about waking up and living another day. That thing that I found each day had to be packed away in my heart and repeated over and over again. I had to fight the urge to be down on myself and others, learn to be more tolerant of other people's shortcomings and I had to grant myself absolute forgiveness.
I was fortunate. I had people who were valuable to me that I was willing to fight for. Sure it makes me sad that my kids didn't have THIS mother when they were growing up. I can't change that, but I can try to be what they need today. It makes me sad that I wasn't THIS wife before. But I have a spectacular husband who deserves to have the wife I have become. It makes me sad that I didn't try to understand my mother and realize that she fought demons of her own. I wish I could have been a daughter she could be proud of. But fortunately she is still living and she can be proud of me now. I wish I could have been a better friend. It is impossible to have friends without first being a friend. I am blessed that I have a few good friends who love me in spite of who I've been before.
I want to be happy, I want to be valued for my intelligence and common sense, I want to be loved. I want a lot of things but I've come to realize that in order to have all the things I want, I have to give them away. More than anything else I don't want to look back on my whole life and realize that I wasted even one precious moment feeling sorry for myself, being mad, or unhappy. Life is a gift and no matter how badly we wrap it, it is still a treasure of great worth. We can waste it or we can use it. We need to remember that others are watching how we unwrap our gift and it will influence how they view their own.
So, my goal is to continue to look in the mirror and decide if I'm seeing the person I am or the person I want to be. Hopefully, one day both those people will be one and the same.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Good Times with Good Friends
My BFF Judy and I had a great day today. It is the first time we have gone anywhere together just the 2 of us in ages. We went to a great little holiday open house and Judy did some Christmas shopping. We had lunch at a terrific "do lunch" place (thanks Stacy for the tip about the Chicken Pasta Salad.) Judy went to the Harley Store and then we went to Atwoods to buy dog crack. Seriously, these dog treats are the best, my dogs would paint the house for them.
We are going to dinner with Larin and Jennie tonight (Shoguns ........(insert crazed happy dancing here)) and tomorrow we are doing family lunch at 2:00 at La Huerta in honor of Roger's birthday. Hopefully, I will be able to get my holiday decorations out of the attic sometime tomorrow and start on my decorating.
Must run, need nap, having all this fun is exhausting!
:)
We are going to dinner with Larin and Jennie tonight (Shoguns ........(insert crazed happy dancing here)) and tomorrow we are doing family lunch at 2:00 at La Huerta in honor of Roger's birthday. Hopefully, I will be able to get my holiday decorations out of the attic sometime tomorrow and start on my decorating.
Must run, need nap, having all this fun is exhausting!
:)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Picture
Thought I would share about the picture with the orange sky and rock mountains. I painted this picture a couple of months ago and recently took a picture of it, uploaded it to Blingee (blinkee?) and added the Santa hat to the orb and made it snow on the mountains. Fun stuff, I never knew Blogging could be so interesting. Maybe my new job will be Blog worthy as well. Maybe I'll call it Green with ivy!
I am working on another landscape. This one is a little more detailed. Mountains, meadows, a barn and a path. I really like it so far but I will probably not get back around to painting on it until after the holidays.
Tomorrow I am going to measure my future office and pick out paint for it. I'm excited to see what my choices are, hopefully there will be one that that just screams ME! I also am going to Angie's Christmas open house at her salon. I think my good friend Judy and my darling daughter are going with me so I'm excited about having a girl's day out.
Went and let Debbra cut my hair today - it was getting a little out of control.
Just watched the creepiest movie on TV. It was called The Strangers. Just about scared me out of my pajamas. Speaking of which.....Santa Baby, I need lounging britches, I've blown the seat out of 2 pair in the past 2 weeks. No, no, I'm quite sure I don't need to lose a few pounds.
Gotta go and put the bod to bed.
Smoochies! :)
I am working on another landscape. This one is a little more detailed. Mountains, meadows, a barn and a path. I really like it so far but I will probably not get back around to painting on it until after the holidays.
Tomorrow I am going to measure my future office and pick out paint for it. I'm excited to see what my choices are, hopefully there will be one that that just screams ME! I also am going to Angie's Christmas open house at her salon. I think my good friend Judy and my darling daughter are going with me so I'm excited about having a girl's day out.
Went and let Debbra cut my hair today - it was getting a little out of control.
Just watched the creepiest movie on TV. It was called The Strangers. Just about scared me out of my pajamas. Speaking of which.....Santa Baby, I need lounging britches, I've blown the seat out of 2 pair in the past 2 weeks. No, no, I'm quite sure I don't need to lose a few pounds.
Gotta go and put the bod to bed.
Smoochies! :)
The Clock is Ticking
I'm starting to regret putting that Christmas countdown counter on my blog. It has started to infect me with a real sense of urgency. It also seems like it is moving at light speed toward the point of no return. Don't get me wrong. I have done some things to prepare, but I'm just not motivated enough.
I have a couple of little things to do today and then I'm really going to start getting serious about my house decorating. I don't know if I will be able to do anything outside, but I can at least get my tree up and decorated.
Since no one hardly ever comments on The Cherry Bowl, I challenge you to leave a comment and tell me what you want Santa to bring you this year. I'll start.
This year for Christmas, I want blogger comments.
I have a couple of little things to do today and then I'm really going to start getting serious about my house decorating. I don't know if I will be able to do anything outside, but I can at least get my tree up and decorated.
Since no one hardly ever comments on The Cherry Bowl, I challenge you to leave a comment and tell me what you want Santa to bring you this year. I'll start.
This year for Christmas, I want blogger comments.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Things We Bring
Life is an ever evolving movie full of twists and turns. Within each of us lies a story interesting beyond words if we could only know how to tell it. Watch any movie and there will be times when you are excited, depressed, happy, sad and incredulous that such things could really happen. But guess what? Amazing things do happen in ordinary people’s lives that we never know about, never see. And as quickly as those amazing moments flash alive, they flicker into memory and are stored away.
I am forever amazed at the complexity of the human relationship. Relationships have a maze like quality. No two are the same. One might lead us on an incredible journey while another may lead us to a dead end with no easy way out.
When people are young, perhaps 14 or so they begin to seek out relationships with an opposite of their gender. Most of their experience has been with family or friends who are like them. Suddenly they begin to notice pleasing aspects in members of the opposite sex.
These relationships are the first step in their travelogue of life. A young boy and girl bring to this experience an innocence. An almost pure attraction. Not yet have they been wounded by others so they explore this relationship with excitement. They are learning themselves in a whole new way. They are fun to watch although often they are almost nauseating in their innocent enjoyment of having a significant other. Sometimes these relationships which are born in youth, endure, grow and last a lifetime. Unfortunately, more often they die a natural death and the participants move on to another playing field.
No relationship that follows will have the same purity of spirit. For suddenly, there has been hurt. Someone cared more than the other and someone’s heart developed a little crack. And that slightly damaged heart is forced to move along life’s highway in search of another vehicle. The hurting person now brings with them a wariness and distrust. The offender develops a self assured cockiness that thickens the skin and hardens the heart ever so slightly.
These two people move in and out of life. Through darkness and light they bump against other travelers and sometimes they rest in a new relationship for a while. And the mold has been set, the die cast. The hurting heart usually continues to be battered about and indeed can even look for the ability to inflict pain in others. The crack becomes bigger exposing tender parts beneath.
It isn’t that a damaged person really wants to be hurt, but they have grown used to it. It clouds the vision and they can no longer “see” those qualities of pure affection. Deep inside, they yearn for something better, different, healthy. But they bring that poor little hurting heart along for every ride they take and soon the trip just doesn’t seem worth it at all.
And so, human beings bring along their baggage into every future relationship. Some have cute little monogrammed tote bags and they cringe at the sight of someone struggling to load their steamer trunk into a new experience. But all baggage both large or small is problematic. Because we bring it with us, we are never free of the events that packed it in the first place. Sometimes we even like to sit and go through our suitcases full of issues and relive them. It hurts and feels good all at the same time, like picking at a scab. Unfortunately, once we are through examining the contents of our luggage, we carefully repack it. We never seem to find even one little item that we can leave behind. In fact, now that we’ve began the reloading, we often find we have more to put back than when we unpacked. And so, we bring ever increasing numbers of cases and boxes. Now we need a cart to load them on. Soon instead of us hauling them, they are dragging us down the road of life. Occasionally, they can stack themselves into huge roadblocks that keep us from going forward and we’re much to afraid to go back. After all, we know what happened before.
The things we bring can be changed but it isn’t easy. Imagine getting to your destination without your luggage. Everything familiar is in that suitcase. Some of it you don’t even really need; you brought it “just in case.” That suitcase is a part of you, in essence it IS you. Now what? What if that piece of baggage is lost forever. What if it winds up in a baggage room in Milwaukee, untagged and unclaimed.
After mourning the fact that it is indeed lost, cursing the careless handling by those in charge and wringing your hands about what to do, you decide. You get yourself to the nearest all purpose store and buy a new toothbrush, shampoo and a pair of serviceable undies. You hang your travel worn clothes on the shower rod and run a hot bath and steam the wrinkles out of your slacks and your spirit as well.
And tomorrow the sun rises like always and you are still part of life. That suitcase may be missing, but you are still here. And, because you’ve lost your luggage, there is a brand new aspect to your existence.
None of us will live and love and be unchanged. We each will hurt and be hurt. We will stand and fall and stand again. We will bring our experience with us and try to educate our children.
What I hope is that along the way, we can begin to cast aside our baggage. It isn’t in the failure of a relationship that we find the thorn. The thorn is in never trying again, never allowing ourselves to trust. The thorn is waiting in one of those suitcases to prick our finger and make us remember our pain.
So bring with you instead your injured heart with a bright shiny SpongeBob band-aid. Open your heart instead of your baggage. Make the thing you bring a willingness to try and try and try again and bring your love and allow it to seek its’ mirror.
I am forever amazed at the complexity of the human relationship. Relationships have a maze like quality. No two are the same. One might lead us on an incredible journey while another may lead us to a dead end with no easy way out.
When people are young, perhaps 14 or so they begin to seek out relationships with an opposite of their gender. Most of their experience has been with family or friends who are like them. Suddenly they begin to notice pleasing aspects in members of the opposite sex.
These relationships are the first step in their travelogue of life. A young boy and girl bring to this experience an innocence. An almost pure attraction. Not yet have they been wounded by others so they explore this relationship with excitement. They are learning themselves in a whole new way. They are fun to watch although often they are almost nauseating in their innocent enjoyment of having a significant other. Sometimes these relationships which are born in youth, endure, grow and last a lifetime. Unfortunately, more often they die a natural death and the participants move on to another playing field.
No relationship that follows will have the same purity of spirit. For suddenly, there has been hurt. Someone cared more than the other and someone’s heart developed a little crack. And that slightly damaged heart is forced to move along life’s highway in search of another vehicle. The hurting person now brings with them a wariness and distrust. The offender develops a self assured cockiness that thickens the skin and hardens the heart ever so slightly.
These two people move in and out of life. Through darkness and light they bump against other travelers and sometimes they rest in a new relationship for a while. And the mold has been set, the die cast. The hurting heart usually continues to be battered about and indeed can even look for the ability to inflict pain in others. The crack becomes bigger exposing tender parts beneath.
It isn’t that a damaged person really wants to be hurt, but they have grown used to it. It clouds the vision and they can no longer “see” those qualities of pure affection. Deep inside, they yearn for something better, different, healthy. But they bring that poor little hurting heart along for every ride they take and soon the trip just doesn’t seem worth it at all.
And so, human beings bring along their baggage into every future relationship. Some have cute little monogrammed tote bags and they cringe at the sight of someone struggling to load their steamer trunk into a new experience. But all baggage both large or small is problematic. Because we bring it with us, we are never free of the events that packed it in the first place. Sometimes we even like to sit and go through our suitcases full of issues and relive them. It hurts and feels good all at the same time, like picking at a scab. Unfortunately, once we are through examining the contents of our luggage, we carefully repack it. We never seem to find even one little item that we can leave behind. In fact, now that we’ve began the reloading, we often find we have more to put back than when we unpacked. And so, we bring ever increasing numbers of cases and boxes. Now we need a cart to load them on. Soon instead of us hauling them, they are dragging us down the road of life. Occasionally, they can stack themselves into huge roadblocks that keep us from going forward and we’re much to afraid to go back. After all, we know what happened before.
The things we bring can be changed but it isn’t easy. Imagine getting to your destination without your luggage. Everything familiar is in that suitcase. Some of it you don’t even really need; you brought it “just in case.” That suitcase is a part of you, in essence it IS you. Now what? What if that piece of baggage is lost forever. What if it winds up in a baggage room in Milwaukee, untagged and unclaimed.
After mourning the fact that it is indeed lost, cursing the careless handling by those in charge and wringing your hands about what to do, you decide. You get yourself to the nearest all purpose store and buy a new toothbrush, shampoo and a pair of serviceable undies. You hang your travel worn clothes on the shower rod and run a hot bath and steam the wrinkles out of your slacks and your spirit as well.
And tomorrow the sun rises like always and you are still part of life. That suitcase may be missing, but you are still here. And, because you’ve lost your luggage, there is a brand new aspect to your existence.
None of us will live and love and be unchanged. We each will hurt and be hurt. We will stand and fall and stand again. We will bring our experience with us and try to educate our children.
What I hope is that along the way, we can begin to cast aside our baggage. It isn’t in the failure of a relationship that we find the thorn. The thorn is in never trying again, never allowing ourselves to trust. The thorn is waiting in one of those suitcases to prick our finger and make us remember our pain.
So bring with you instead your injured heart with a bright shiny SpongeBob band-aid. Open your heart instead of your baggage. Make the thing you bring a willingness to try and try and try again and bring your love and allow it to seek its’ mirror.
Cherry Flop
I have been up since 3:00 a.m. I am not able to sleep. I let myself get waaaay too stressed yesterday and I will pay the price for it today.
I took my son to the airport yesterday. His flight was leaving at 7:00 p.m. We rolled out of my driveway headed to Tulsa at 5:00. Doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out what kind of trip we had. Since they like for you to be at the airport a minimum of 1 hour prior to boarding and it is a minimum of an hour and a half drive to Tulsa, it just doesn't compute. The highway between here and there is under continual construction and we went through a whole section of single lane highway, got into Tulsa and I made one wrong turn which worked out pretty easily. We came to a stop in front of the United ticketing counter at 6:50.
Son jumped out, grabbed his bag and hit the ground running. Of course they were holding his ticket so he had to show ID, etc. go through security and run for the plane. Sometime during all this, he lost his cell phone so he is now in Salt Lake City Utah without any way to keep in touch.
If someone could please explain to me why men procrastinate the way they do, I would certainly appreciate the insight.
I was literally so stressed by the time he boarded the plane that I almost got a hotel room and stayed the night in Tulsa. I decided I would go eat and give myself time to unwind a little before heading home and naturally, took the wrong exit and wound up headed for Missouri.
I have made probably 5 trips to Tulsa in my lifetime and have wound up lost 3 of them. I told darling son's girlfriend that when it is time for him to come home, she is going to have to figure out how she can get him from Tulsa to Fort Smith without me.
So it would appear that a long nap is in my future for today. Feel free to join me.
I took my son to the airport yesterday. His flight was leaving at 7:00 p.m. We rolled out of my driveway headed to Tulsa at 5:00. Doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out what kind of trip we had. Since they like for you to be at the airport a minimum of 1 hour prior to boarding and it is a minimum of an hour and a half drive to Tulsa, it just doesn't compute. The highway between here and there is under continual construction and we went through a whole section of single lane highway, got into Tulsa and I made one wrong turn which worked out pretty easily. We came to a stop in front of the United ticketing counter at 6:50.
Son jumped out, grabbed his bag and hit the ground running. Of course they were holding his ticket so he had to show ID, etc. go through security and run for the plane. Sometime during all this, he lost his cell phone so he is now in Salt Lake City Utah without any way to keep in touch.
If someone could please explain to me why men procrastinate the way they do, I would certainly appreciate the insight.
I was literally so stressed by the time he boarded the plane that I almost got a hotel room and stayed the night in Tulsa. I decided I would go eat and give myself time to unwind a little before heading home and naturally, took the wrong exit and wound up headed for Missouri.
I have made probably 5 trips to Tulsa in my lifetime and have wound up lost 3 of them. I told darling son's girlfriend that when it is time for him to come home, she is going to have to figure out how she can get him from Tulsa to Fort Smith without me.
So it would appear that a long nap is in my future for today. Feel free to join me.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Happy Birthday Darling Husband
Today was Roger's birthday. Unfortunately, I had to make a whirlwind trip to Tulsa and was unable to spend any time with him on his birthday. I think he had a pretty crappy day all around so I am going to spend the rest of the week trying to make up for a less than stellar birthday. He does so much for all of us and it seems like he always gets the short end of the stick.
I don't know if it is because it comes right after Thanksgiving and everyone has sort of let down after the turkey hype or what but I personally have the hardest time remembering and it just sneaks up on me every year. I have to do better, he deserves better.
Gotta go, am very tired and kind of depressed that I have made my sweetheart unhappy. No cherry on top for me, I'm a bad girl.
I don't know if it is because it comes right after Thanksgiving and everyone has sort of let down after the turkey hype or what but I personally have the hardest time remembering and it just sneaks up on me every year. I have to do better, he deserves better.
Gotta go, am very tired and kind of depressed that I have made my sweetheart unhappy. No cherry on top for me, I'm a bad girl.
Saving a Buck
Over the Thanksgiving holidays, I was disturbed to hear about people who were injured and even killed during the crazed event known as "Black Friday."
One has to wonder exactly what creates such a frenzy among what one hopes are usually sane people. Since most of us overspend at Christmas anyway, how much of a savings can precipitate the need to camp out in the cold and then stampede like cattle in a thunderstorm.
Is this the result of "herd" mentality? Have we reduced ourselves to little more than sheep blindly crowding into pens for slaughter? Or are we so completely numb to the "what ifs" of our behavior that we cease to think rationally?
I believe that had I have been in that crowd at Wal-Mart and knew that someone died I would have a difficult time ever getting over it.
However along with the crowds of senseless shoppers there are others to share the blame. First of all, if stores can "slash" their prices for holiday shopping, couldn't they have some decent discounts all along? And the media.....I hate to even get started on my soapbox there. The same people who make elections last for years by analyzing, critiquing and denegrating can work the public into a froth. Perhaps if we weren't told that prices were good for "1 DAY ONLY!" we might have more sense.
But ultimately, the responsibility lies with us. It is our job to behave like human beings, not savages. That same HDTV that we are so driven to obtain the day after Thanksgiving may very well be drastically discounted after Christmas as well. And frankly, given the state of our world, our country and our economy I would like to see people decide to work really hard to recapture the whole meaning of Christmas. Chances are none of those people who rushed the doors of Wal-mart were doing so to buy items for the poor, the sick or the homeless. They were rushing to purchase for people who more than likely, have too much, eat too much and appreciate too little. I still remember Christmas as a little girl when most of my gifts were much needed clothes. My best package came in the mail from my grandmother. The big boot box was filled with books, a box of chocolate covered cherries, a Lifesaver "book" and some item that grandma made with her own hands. As a child I had no use for a toilet paper roll cover constructed from a doll body with a crocheted skirt but she made it. And she made it just for me. At the time, it never crossed my mind that she had made dozens of them and everyone in the family got the same thing. All I cared about was the fact that she remembered me and cared enough to make something for me. I would give anything to be able to look forward to seeing that boot box arrive in the mail this Christmas.
As we all ratchet up for Christmas, I hope we can approach it with peaceful calm. De-stress the event as much as you can. Remember Jesus was born in a lowly stable with little comfort and He was a King. Without Him, there would be no Christmas.
One has to wonder exactly what creates such a frenzy among what one hopes are usually sane people. Since most of us overspend at Christmas anyway, how much of a savings can precipitate the need to camp out in the cold and then stampede like cattle in a thunderstorm.
Is this the result of "herd" mentality? Have we reduced ourselves to little more than sheep blindly crowding into pens for slaughter? Or are we so completely numb to the "what ifs" of our behavior that we cease to think rationally?
I believe that had I have been in that crowd at Wal-Mart and knew that someone died I would have a difficult time ever getting over it.
However along with the crowds of senseless shoppers there are others to share the blame. First of all, if stores can "slash" their prices for holiday shopping, couldn't they have some decent discounts all along? And the media.....I hate to even get started on my soapbox there. The same people who make elections last for years by analyzing, critiquing and denegrating can work the public into a froth. Perhaps if we weren't told that prices were good for "1 DAY ONLY!" we might have more sense.
But ultimately, the responsibility lies with us. It is our job to behave like human beings, not savages. That same HDTV that we are so driven to obtain the day after Thanksgiving may very well be drastically discounted after Christmas as well. And frankly, given the state of our world, our country and our economy I would like to see people decide to work really hard to recapture the whole meaning of Christmas. Chances are none of those people who rushed the doors of Wal-mart were doing so to buy items for the poor, the sick or the homeless. They were rushing to purchase for people who more than likely, have too much, eat too much and appreciate too little. I still remember Christmas as a little girl when most of my gifts were much needed clothes. My best package came in the mail from my grandmother. The big boot box was filled with books, a box of chocolate covered cherries, a Lifesaver "book" and some item that grandma made with her own hands. As a child I had no use for a toilet paper roll cover constructed from a doll body with a crocheted skirt but she made it. And she made it just for me. At the time, it never crossed my mind that she had made dozens of them and everyone in the family got the same thing. All I cared about was the fact that she remembered me and cared enough to make something for me. I would give anything to be able to look forward to seeing that boot box arrive in the mail this Christmas.
As we all ratchet up for Christmas, I hope we can approach it with peaceful calm. De-stress the event as much as you can. Remember Jesus was born in a lowly stable with little comfort and He was a King. Without Him, there would be no Christmas.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Cherry On Top
Yesterday I had a meeting with a very nice young man who is in the landscaping business and is wanting to open his own nursery. My good friend Grayce DeWitt managed to put the two of us together in the hope that we might be mutually advantageous to each other. She knew that I needed employment and he was looking for someone to manage his new enterprise.
I left the meeting really excited about starting something new. His excitement was certainly contagious and I found that it stimulated new ideas within me. This position will not begin until March if all plays out well which works nicely with my plans.
This association can also be very helpful to Roger in his business and he in turn can feed into the landscaping aspect.
My prayer is that our uncertain economy will rebound enough to allow a new business to grow legs and stand, that I will be up to the challenge of effectively managing a brand new baby biz and grow it into a thriving profitable enterprise.
This is an extremely talented young man with a lot of fresh and exciting ideas, the drive and motivation to step out in faith and the experience to back up his enterprise.
I was very impressed with him and I think he was impressed with me as well. So, perhaps after a year of very disconcerting events, life will prove to reinvent itself once again.
I beg you for your prayers that I will be able to step up to the plate and be all that I can be. Not just for the sake of my family but also for my potential employer. Remember that I pray for all of you everyday and ask for God's richest blessings and peace beyond compare.
Picture of the granddaughters watching the Jonas Brothers on TV....oh and Matt & Kaylee too.
Stuffed like the turkey!
I've finally waddled my way from the kitchen to the computer with enough energy to write. Seldom in my memory have I had such a wonderful day as Thanksgiving. We actually had everyone here except for the oldest grandson on Thanksgiving. A rare occurrence for us given there are so very many of us.
We had great food, and a tremendous day of family. We are many, we are large, we are loud and it was never more apparent than this Thanksgiving.
All the kids had a rousing game of hide and seek. I never knew there were so many places to hide in my little house. They had great fun and one of them discovered the theory of hiding in plain sight.
One darling daughter learned a lesson on betting with her sister which created memories that still make me laugh today and will for the rest of time. (And remember...kiddo....I have pictures! :)
There was so much laughter that I went to bed with a splitting headache and I've never been so happy to have one.
In spite of all the challenges we have faced this year, for one blessed day, we forgot our individual trials and tribulations and just had fun. It was so uplifting to know that even though our lives have included losing people, finding people, losing jobs, finding jobs, restructuring jobs, broken bones, broken homes, lost pups, and broken cups we are all still standing. Still looking forward and still hoping for those miracles we all know can happen.
Love does conquer all and as long as we remember to concentrate on the things that are truly important, we can overcome anything.
As I looked around my living room at 20 plus people crammed into a few couches and chairs I realized how very rich I am. I have great kids. Some I am responsible for and others that I get to enjoy through the grace of God. I have the most wonderful grandchildren a person could ask for. They are all bright and full of life and strong personalities. I am blessed with sons and daughters in law and life partners of my children that I think are positive influences on my family as a whole. I have a husband that makes me want to be a better person everyday. One that loves me in spite of my warts and wrinkles and sagging skin. I am blessed by God that I still can call my mother and cry on her shoulder. Blessed as well with a few good friends that will be there till the end.
Particularly blessed am I that God allows me to make mistake after mistake and learn from them without costing me. And blessed indeed that my God fulfills my needs and even a few of my wants and loves me enough to allow me to have yet another day to enjoy my life. And so, I am stuffed as full as the Thanksgiving turkey. Not with dressing, stuffed with blessings. I wish you all the same.
Remember.......if you really want to finish the year with a bang, de-stress your Christmas!
We had great food, and a tremendous day of family. We are many, we are large, we are loud and it was never more apparent than this Thanksgiving.
All the kids had a rousing game of hide and seek. I never knew there were so many places to hide in my little house. They had great fun and one of them discovered the theory of hiding in plain sight.
One darling daughter learned a lesson on betting with her sister which created memories that still make me laugh today and will for the rest of time. (And remember...kiddo....I have pictures! :)
There was so much laughter that I went to bed with a splitting headache and I've never been so happy to have one.
In spite of all the challenges we have faced this year, for one blessed day, we forgot our individual trials and tribulations and just had fun. It was so uplifting to know that even though our lives have included losing people, finding people, losing jobs, finding jobs, restructuring jobs, broken bones, broken homes, lost pups, and broken cups we are all still standing. Still looking forward and still hoping for those miracles we all know can happen.
Love does conquer all and as long as we remember to concentrate on the things that are truly important, we can overcome anything.
As I looked around my living room at 20 plus people crammed into a few couches and chairs I realized how very rich I am. I have great kids. Some I am responsible for and others that I get to enjoy through the grace of God. I have the most wonderful grandchildren a person could ask for. They are all bright and full of life and strong personalities. I am blessed with sons and daughters in law and life partners of my children that I think are positive influences on my family as a whole. I have a husband that makes me want to be a better person everyday. One that loves me in spite of my warts and wrinkles and sagging skin. I am blessed by God that I still can call my mother and cry on her shoulder. Blessed as well with a few good friends that will be there till the end.
Particularly blessed am I that God allows me to make mistake after mistake and learn from them without costing me. And blessed indeed that my God fulfills my needs and even a few of my wants and loves me enough to allow me to have yet another day to enjoy my life. And so, I am stuffed as full as the Thanksgiving turkey. Not with dressing, stuffed with blessings. I wish you all the same.
Remember.......if you really want to finish the year with a bang, de-stress your Christmas!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Cherry Chops....yum, yum!
I made the stuffed pork chops for lunch today and what can I say? They totally rocked!
They were very different, but quite good. Sort of like something you would try at a restaurant you'd never been to before. I am really enjoying trying some new culinary arts.
Tomorrow I begin the frenzied holiday cooking extravaganza. I like to get all my stuff made in advance and then just pop things in the oven as time grows short. I am really hoping for nice weather so we can utilize the garage as an overflow room. My house sure gets little in a hurry once everyone arrives.
We did get the garage heater installed today. I guess the plumber must have got air in the gas lines because when I went to take a bath this evening there was no hot water and I had to re-light the water heater. Made me very angry, I wanted to have a nice long soak before the finals of "Dancing With the Stars." Oh well, I'll just have a nice warm tubby right before bedie-bye.
To all my friends and loved ones who pop by from time to time to check on the Cherry Bowl, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember you are my blessings.
They were very different, but quite good. Sort of like something you would try at a restaurant you'd never been to before. I am really enjoying trying some new culinary arts.
Tomorrow I begin the frenzied holiday cooking extravaganza. I like to get all my stuff made in advance and then just pop things in the oven as time grows short. I am really hoping for nice weather so we can utilize the garage as an overflow room. My house sure gets little in a hurry once everyone arrives.
We did get the garage heater installed today. I guess the plumber must have got air in the gas lines because when I went to take a bath this evening there was no hot water and I had to re-light the water heater. Made me very angry, I wanted to have a nice long soak before the finals of "Dancing With the Stars." Oh well, I'll just have a nice warm tubby right before bedie-bye.
To all my friends and loved ones who pop by from time to time to check on the Cherry Bowl, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember you are my blessings.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Counting down to Counting Blessings!
Well, I've finally got everyone on board with things to bring for Thanksgiving. I will still have a ton of cooking to do, but that's okay since I have nuthin' but time right now.
I don't think anyone has a heap of other plans this year so we should be able to have a pretty stress free holiday. Here's hoping everyone puts on their happy pants and decides to make the best of the day.
I cooked a really good dinner tonight for my better half. He has been working on a job site for the past week and I figured since turkey is going to be on his menu soon for several days, he might enjoy something a little different.
I made Chicken Saltimbocca and it was delish! Tomorrow night I am making cherry stuffed pork chops. I bought a 2008 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes magazine and it has really good ideas in it.
I talked to my aunt in Jacksonville today. I'm trying to talk her into coming for Thanksgiving. I hate to think of anyone not having family and her husband died this year and her kids are "iffy" at best.
I am so looking forward to having a holiday in my new and improved kitchen!
I'm still waiting on a plumber to come and install our garage heater. He caused me to miss my grandson's Thanksgiving program today. This was his first little program and I was very sad to miss it. However, Pawpaw said he did me proud, he was thrilled with the performance aspect of the event. What can I say....I try to make sure they all know to "go for the big finish!"
Guess I'll trot off to bed, I have a new book to put me to sleep.
If you are reading, please know you are one of my blessings and I am truly blessed in you and grateful for your presence in my life. :) Big kisses!
I don't think anyone has a heap of other plans this year so we should be able to have a pretty stress free holiday. Here's hoping everyone puts on their happy pants and decides to make the best of the day.
I cooked a really good dinner tonight for my better half. He has been working on a job site for the past week and I figured since turkey is going to be on his menu soon for several days, he might enjoy something a little different.
I made Chicken Saltimbocca and it was delish! Tomorrow night I am making cherry stuffed pork chops. I bought a 2008 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes magazine and it has really good ideas in it.
I talked to my aunt in Jacksonville today. I'm trying to talk her into coming for Thanksgiving. I hate to think of anyone not having family and her husband died this year and her kids are "iffy" at best.
I am so looking forward to having a holiday in my new and improved kitchen!
I'm still waiting on a plumber to come and install our garage heater. He caused me to miss my grandson's Thanksgiving program today. This was his first little program and I was very sad to miss it. However, Pawpaw said he did me proud, he was thrilled with the performance aspect of the event. What can I say....I try to make sure they all know to "go for the big finish!"
Guess I'll trot off to bed, I have a new book to put me to sleep.
If you are reading, please know you are one of my blessings and I am truly blessed in you and grateful for your presence in my life. :) Big kisses!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Cherry Ice
Brrrrrrrrr! It is cold outside! It has been so windy lately, I almost feel like I'm back in the Texas panhandle. There is a sharp snap to the air. I guess I had better get serious about locating my coat.
I have officially purchased 2 (count 'em 2) Christmas gifts. 2 down and a gazillion to go....not bad, huh?
I was hoping to fill out a lot of my shopping at Holiday market but the prices were out of sight this year. All the vendors were complaining that sales were down and they were going to have to pack up all their stuff and take it back home. But, no one was really trying to move anything by marking it down either.
I understand commerce as good as the next chick, but I would be wanting to make enough to cover my hotel, meals and travel expenses at the very least. I do feel bad for those cottage industry types in an economy like this one.
I predict the Christmas Eve shopping this year will be the wildest ever. I think everyone is going to wait until the last possible moment and try to find some really good bargains.
Roger and I have agreed that we will not buy gifts for each other this year. We have put a lot of money into improving our house and that means the world to me. However, there goes the one gift I get at Christmas, yuk yuk! That's not true, my friend Judy always gives me something gorgeous!
I think our older grandkids are getting gift cards this year. They are just too hard to shop for.
I must go now and find socks for my feet, they are like mini-icebergs and when my feet are cold, my whole body takes the trip with them. More later, gator!
:)
I have officially purchased 2 (count 'em 2) Christmas gifts. 2 down and a gazillion to go....not bad, huh?
I was hoping to fill out a lot of my shopping at Holiday market but the prices were out of sight this year. All the vendors were complaining that sales were down and they were going to have to pack up all their stuff and take it back home. But, no one was really trying to move anything by marking it down either.
I understand commerce as good as the next chick, but I would be wanting to make enough to cover my hotel, meals and travel expenses at the very least. I do feel bad for those cottage industry types in an economy like this one.
I predict the Christmas Eve shopping this year will be the wildest ever. I think everyone is going to wait until the last possible moment and try to find some really good bargains.
Roger and I have agreed that we will not buy gifts for each other this year. We have put a lot of money into improving our house and that means the world to me. However, there goes the one gift I get at Christmas, yuk yuk! That's not true, my friend Judy always gives me something gorgeous!
I think our older grandkids are getting gift cards this year. They are just too hard to shop for.
I must go now and find socks for my feet, they are like mini-icebergs and when my feet are cold, my whole body takes the trip with them. More later, gator!
:)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Holiderry Cherry
I went to the Holiday market today with my BFF Judy and her daughters, Cathy and Kim. We had big time fun! We went to eat first at Hamburger Barn in spite of the fact that the waitresses there can give you an extreme complex in a hurry. Food was uber good and we laughed and laughed. Then we hit the market hard and shopped. My foot actually held out for the duration...thank God for pain killers.
Then we went to the new Bed, Bath and Beyond store and I found a steam cleaner that I have been wanting.
I was gone practically all day which for me is good these days. I sort of resist leaving the house. But I am so grateful that I was included in their family outing. Especially since no one in my family wants to do anything with me :)
We are dog sitting Amber Pants this weekend. She is such a sweet dog and I think she really likes being here.
My Christmas cards have arrived and I think they are pretty darn cute. Can't wait to send them out.
Well, need to fly and spend a little time with Darling Husband before he has to report for Grandpa duty.
Cherry Kisses!
Then we went to the new Bed, Bath and Beyond store and I found a steam cleaner that I have been wanting.
I was gone practically all day which for me is good these days. I sort of resist leaving the house. But I am so grateful that I was included in their family outing. Especially since no one in my family wants to do anything with me :)
We are dog sitting Amber Pants this weekend. She is such a sweet dog and I think she really likes being here.
My Christmas cards have arrived and I think they are pretty darn cute. Can't wait to send them out.
Well, need to fly and spend a little time with Darling Husband before he has to report for Grandpa duty.
Cherry Kisses!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Is There A God?
(Note to reader)
Another of my old writings.
All my life, there has been a debate on the issue of God from every direction imaginable. Is there a God? Science would have us think not. Trying to explain our existence by talking about evolution or the "big bang" theory is sciences' way of making us doubt a supreme being. Scientist want us to embrace the possibility that we crawled up out of the primordial ooze to walk on all fours and eventually stand erect. For some reason a lot of super intelligent people are threatened by the faith concept of a higher power. Faith is scary because it can't be explained away with a mathematical equation or scientific calculation.
For all I know we may very well have slithered from a slime pit somewhere but I also know if we did, it was God who called us out.
All I have to do is look at the world around me and know that only a great and wonderful God could have given us this life. He provided everything we could possibly need to exist and then gave us minds and will to control our own behavior. To see a newborn child is the epitome of a supreme being who loves us and believes in us enough to allow us to perpetuate our existence.
I realize I may have a slightly tilted view on the faith/religion issue. I don't necessarily think they are one and the same thing.
Religion is a structured program by which you practice your faith and embrace others of a like mind.
Faith is the essence of your being that makes you "know" something is true.
In my opinion, religion is like a car. If it is a decent car, if you take care of it, if you tend to the daily maintenance, if you drive it enough to keep it humming along and then fortify it with gas and oil, it is going to take you somewhere. It doesn't matter whether it is a Ford, a Chevy or something else; that car will take you where you want to go. Isn't religion a lot the same? Maintain it and it will take you to your destination and even allow you to take someone else with you.
In religion we are a diverse people; in Faith we are the same.
Recently, I was part of a rather heated debate on the issue of God and the hereafter. My antagonist was absolutely without a doubt convinced there was no God. Therefore, they maintained, there is no reason to exercise any kind of restraint here on earth.
I struggled so to find something that might make this person understand my position on Faith and God and the conviction that we will answer for our actions. I prayed for the words to help me express what I "knew" in my heart to be true and God in his wisdom gave me the answer. I will share it with you as well.
"Suppose you live your entire life on earth trying as hard as you can to do what society and God say you should. Suppose you obey man's law and try to live closely to the teaching of God. And then you die and learn there isn't a God. What have you lost by living your life the way you did. You lost nothing."
"Now suppose you live your life with no regard for the laws of God or man. You live as you please with no concern for the consequences. You lie, cheat, steal, covet your friend's possessions, kill the innocent and wreck havoc on earth as long as you live. And then you die and find yourself at the feet of God. What have you lost? You have lost everything with no hope of going back and changing anything.
Even a hard nosed gambler would be able to look at those odds and tell you what your best bet would be. And I think it is also fairly scientific.
Cost of living a God fearing life if there isn't a God ----Nothing.
Cost of living a reprehensible life if there is a God ----Everything including your immortal soul.
Talk about a classic no-brainer! It doesn't even require religion to teach it or Faith to belive it, it simply is.
Yes, Virginia, there is a God. You will find Him in the beauty of a new day, in the rebirth of Spring, in the certainty of the tides and the phases of the moon, in the eyes of a small child and in the inherent goodness of our fellow man. He lives and lives and lives.
Another of my old writings.
All my life, there has been a debate on the issue of God from every direction imaginable. Is there a God? Science would have us think not. Trying to explain our existence by talking about evolution or the "big bang" theory is sciences' way of making us doubt a supreme being. Scientist want us to embrace the possibility that we crawled up out of the primordial ooze to walk on all fours and eventually stand erect. For some reason a lot of super intelligent people are threatened by the faith concept of a higher power. Faith is scary because it can't be explained away with a mathematical equation or scientific calculation.
For all I know we may very well have slithered from a slime pit somewhere but I also know if we did, it was God who called us out.
All I have to do is look at the world around me and know that only a great and wonderful God could have given us this life. He provided everything we could possibly need to exist and then gave us minds and will to control our own behavior. To see a newborn child is the epitome of a supreme being who loves us and believes in us enough to allow us to perpetuate our existence.
I realize I may have a slightly tilted view on the faith/religion issue. I don't necessarily think they are one and the same thing.
Religion is a structured program by which you practice your faith and embrace others of a like mind.
Faith is the essence of your being that makes you "know" something is true.
In my opinion, religion is like a car. If it is a decent car, if you take care of it, if you tend to the daily maintenance, if you drive it enough to keep it humming along and then fortify it with gas and oil, it is going to take you somewhere. It doesn't matter whether it is a Ford, a Chevy or something else; that car will take you where you want to go. Isn't religion a lot the same? Maintain it and it will take you to your destination and even allow you to take someone else with you.
In religion we are a diverse people; in Faith we are the same.
Recently, I was part of a rather heated debate on the issue of God and the hereafter. My antagonist was absolutely without a doubt convinced there was no God. Therefore, they maintained, there is no reason to exercise any kind of restraint here on earth.
I struggled so to find something that might make this person understand my position on Faith and God and the conviction that we will answer for our actions. I prayed for the words to help me express what I "knew" in my heart to be true and God in his wisdom gave me the answer. I will share it with you as well.
"Suppose you live your entire life on earth trying as hard as you can to do what society and God say you should. Suppose you obey man's law and try to live closely to the teaching of God. And then you die and learn there isn't a God. What have you lost by living your life the way you did. You lost nothing."
"Now suppose you live your life with no regard for the laws of God or man. You live as you please with no concern for the consequences. You lie, cheat, steal, covet your friend's possessions, kill the innocent and wreck havoc on earth as long as you live. And then you die and find yourself at the feet of God. What have you lost? You have lost everything with no hope of going back and changing anything.
Even a hard nosed gambler would be able to look at those odds and tell you what your best bet would be. And I think it is also fairly scientific.
Cost of living a God fearing life if there isn't a God ----Nothing.
Cost of living a reprehensible life if there is a God ----Everything including your immortal soul.
Talk about a classic no-brainer! It doesn't even require religion to teach it or Faith to belive it, it simply is.
Yes, Virginia, there is a God. You will find Him in the beauty of a new day, in the rebirth of Spring, in the certainty of the tides and the phases of the moon, in the eyes of a small child and in the inherent goodness of our fellow man. He lives and lives and lives.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Just a reminder
Just a reminder that some of my posts of late have been things that I have written in the past. Like "Mental Pause" was written several years ago when I was in the grips of the hell on earth. And, the store selling the giant underpants is currently a Latino Church so these things aren't current, but still relevant. :)
Starting to plan Thanksgiving. These holiday plans just defeat me before I can ever get started. Everyone has so many places to go that it is difficult at best to find a good time for all. I eventually just have to decide a time and stick with it and realize that if my family can be here I am in a hip hip hooray mood, but if they can't, I will be saddened but I still have to plod on.
I have asked everyone what they would like to bring and have no commitments for anything. Which this year isn't a huge problem since I have plenty of time to cook and clean providing my foot will cooperate. I am having the devil of a time getting it to ease up any, but continue to try.
I am looking forward to my dog's cousin Amber coming to stay again this weekend. She was here last weekend and had a blast. She got to reconnect with Max (who thinks she is positively delectable) and she was able to make friends with Betty. Amber and Jessie spent quite a bit of time actually playing together which tells me they have missed each other.
I have been painting quite a bit and am getting some pretty good feedback on my stuff. I'll never be another Renoir but I might make a pretty good Grandma Moses.
I am staying fairly close to the house and don't see many people. Angie drops by fairly often to show me her Tu-Tu Canvases which are very cute! She really is talented and I hope she sells a boatload of them. And I saw Tommy Jack today for a while. He is going back to Salt Lake until Christmas to try to make some money.
Geez....if the economy doesn't straighten out, we will all be on welfare, food stamps and living in government housing. Everyday, some other company here in Fort Smith announces either layoffs or shortened work weeks or out and out closings. For the first time in my life, I am really scared about the future.
On a positive note, my washer is fixed (insert crazy happy dancing here), we got the garage door insulated so we can put some form of heat out there and my gas logs are installed. Now I can have a fire anytime I please, no muss no fuss!
Well, I'm going to take a cherry tylenol and hit the hay. I have had a very low grade headache all day and I think I should put it to bed.
Smoochies!
Starting to plan Thanksgiving. These holiday plans just defeat me before I can ever get started. Everyone has so many places to go that it is difficult at best to find a good time for all. I eventually just have to decide a time and stick with it and realize that if my family can be here I am in a hip hip hooray mood, but if they can't, I will be saddened but I still have to plod on.
I have asked everyone what they would like to bring and have no commitments for anything. Which this year isn't a huge problem since I have plenty of time to cook and clean providing my foot will cooperate. I am having the devil of a time getting it to ease up any, but continue to try.
I am looking forward to my dog's cousin Amber coming to stay again this weekend. She was here last weekend and had a blast. She got to reconnect with Max (who thinks she is positively delectable) and she was able to make friends with Betty. Amber and Jessie spent quite a bit of time actually playing together which tells me they have missed each other.
I have been painting quite a bit and am getting some pretty good feedback on my stuff. I'll never be another Renoir but I might make a pretty good Grandma Moses.
I am staying fairly close to the house and don't see many people. Angie drops by fairly often to show me her Tu-Tu Canvases which are very cute! She really is talented and I hope she sells a boatload of them. And I saw Tommy Jack today for a while. He is going back to Salt Lake until Christmas to try to make some money.
Geez....if the economy doesn't straighten out, we will all be on welfare, food stamps and living in government housing. Everyday, some other company here in Fort Smith announces either layoffs or shortened work weeks or out and out closings. For the first time in my life, I am really scared about the future.
On a positive note, my washer is fixed (insert crazy happy dancing here), we got the garage door insulated so we can put some form of heat out there and my gas logs are installed. Now I can have a fire anytime I please, no muss no fuss!
Well, I'm going to take a cherry tylenol and hit the hay. I have had a very low grade headache all day and I think I should put it to bed.
Smoochies!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Mental Pause
If I could get my hands on that heifer Eve, I’d wring her neck. Because she couldn’t listen and just be happy in paradise, she doomed her sisters to lifelong misery. All through our life we have been cursed with headaches, fatigue, bloating, swelling feet, and messy monthlies. Oh, and yes, I’ll say it……extreme bitchyness! Eve did the crime.....we do the time.
Some of us are blessed with not having a great deal of trouble during “that time” of the month. But, even so, any behavior that might be construed as irrational by our male counterparts, is passed off as “her time of the month.”
Because of the havoc this little female problem causes, aggressive women are deemed pushy. Forceful women are considered bitches. And sentimental, emotional women are to be avoided at all cost. They might be too frail to handle life in general.
Of course, one advantage this brings to womanhood is that men tend to give us a wide berth for a couple of weeks a month. Like musk ox they sense it coming and start to get nervous. As soon as the heating pad and Midol appear, they have disappeared, occasionally braving the lioness’ den to ask “Sugar, do you need anything?” Of course, they really don’t want to be involved. If you want proof of this, just try sending them to the store for those feminine supplies. They are simply making sure that at the end of the apocalypse, they can salve their conscience with the fact that they offered to help. During this time, they maintain the attitude of stealth fighters, always making sure they are flying safely under the PMS radar.
As horrific as this is on the front end of life, the problems associated with aging make it seem like a piece of cake. Suddenly, you enter a new phase in life. What used to happen every month, now happens occasionally. So occasionally that you cannot plan it. Just when you think you are completely finished with all the mess, there is that little surprise. Nothing big, just annoying. And it goes on and on. Do you buy supplies? Do you wait and be surprised. Or do you let your granddaughter use your stash as diapers for her baby doll or plugs for the plastic paddling pool?
At the time in life when you should be level headed and even tempered, you are instead on an emotional roll-a-coaster. Deliriously giddy one moment and scraping the bottom of the despair barrel the next.
Eagerly you seek the sweet release of sleep. Oh no! Not so! You wake in the night feeling like someone has given you the “hot foot”. Your head feels like you have tried to do yourself in using a lit oven and you are dripping in sweat. You turn to your dear partner in life and say “Honey, aren’t you hot?” He grunts something that can only be construed as a negative response, grabs the covers you have released and falls back into that innocent sleep. You lie there in the dark, uncovered, willing yourself to cool down and cork back off to sleep. The next thing you know, you are shivering and grabbing at all the cover you can find, including that of the lump next to you. This particularly unpleasant event happens not once, not twice, but several times a night. Between this and the frequent trips to the bathroom that also is part of growing old, you start to wonder what the point of going to bed is. And of course, God forbid that you cough, laugh, or sneeze without adequate preparation!
The night sweats are something only you and your darling husband can share. However, the hot flashes are there for all to experience. Everyone else at work is comfortable while you are fanning yourself and seriously considering stripping off all your clothing; A possibility that 10 years ago wouldn’t have seemed so vile both to you and your co-workers. You are hot in the middle of winter, trying to explain why the air conditioner is running in January. And the summer becomes a never ending saga of clammy skin, red face and dripping hair. You have alienated your dogs by inserting yourself in their wading pool. Ice is your friend, fans a necessity and air conditioning a life support system that must not fail. During this time, the electric company is your dearest friend instead of your arch enemy.
Discouraged but hopeful, you seek the help of your friendly physician. After running a little blood test, you are told that your symptoms are indicative of Menopause. Ah, at last you understand. And now, there will be a pill, a shot, something to make your life worth living again.
Oh, you deluded woman! Now they have decided that hormones CAN cause cancer and are not really recommended. Well isn’t this just great. The generation who was enlightened enough to understand that women need not suffer during childbirth have decided that your golden years should be spent in the equivalent of hell on earth. There are many herbal remedies that you can try. I would suggest that you travel to the Holy Land and bathe in the Jordan river. Maybe that will do the trick because believe me, herbs don’t!
Sometimes during the night, my doctor’s face appears before me. Suddenly that kind, benevolent and smiling face turns into a terrifying maniacal laughing creature from a child’s storybook. As hard as I try to convince myself that he has my best interest at heart I cast a curse on him. The worst I can imagine.
“I HOPE YOUR WIFE GOES THROUGH EARLY MENOPAUSE AND RUINS YOUR LIFE.” Something tells me that this new breed of doctor will have an entirely different perspective when that day comes.
Some of us are blessed with not having a great deal of trouble during “that time” of the month. But, even so, any behavior that might be construed as irrational by our male counterparts, is passed off as “her time of the month.”
Because of the havoc this little female problem causes, aggressive women are deemed pushy. Forceful women are considered bitches. And sentimental, emotional women are to be avoided at all cost. They might be too frail to handle life in general.
Of course, one advantage this brings to womanhood is that men tend to give us a wide berth for a couple of weeks a month. Like musk ox they sense it coming and start to get nervous. As soon as the heating pad and Midol appear, they have disappeared, occasionally braving the lioness’ den to ask “Sugar, do you need anything?” Of course, they really don’t want to be involved. If you want proof of this, just try sending them to the store for those feminine supplies. They are simply making sure that at the end of the apocalypse, they can salve their conscience with the fact that they offered to help. During this time, they maintain the attitude of stealth fighters, always making sure they are flying safely under the PMS radar.
As horrific as this is on the front end of life, the problems associated with aging make it seem like a piece of cake. Suddenly, you enter a new phase in life. What used to happen every month, now happens occasionally. So occasionally that you cannot plan it. Just when you think you are completely finished with all the mess, there is that little surprise. Nothing big, just annoying. And it goes on and on. Do you buy supplies? Do you wait and be surprised. Or do you let your granddaughter use your stash as diapers for her baby doll or plugs for the plastic paddling pool?
At the time in life when you should be level headed and even tempered, you are instead on an emotional roll-a-coaster. Deliriously giddy one moment and scraping the bottom of the despair barrel the next.
Eagerly you seek the sweet release of sleep. Oh no! Not so! You wake in the night feeling like someone has given you the “hot foot”. Your head feels like you have tried to do yourself in using a lit oven and you are dripping in sweat. You turn to your dear partner in life and say “Honey, aren’t you hot?” He grunts something that can only be construed as a negative response, grabs the covers you have released and falls back into that innocent sleep. You lie there in the dark, uncovered, willing yourself to cool down and cork back off to sleep. The next thing you know, you are shivering and grabbing at all the cover you can find, including that of the lump next to you. This particularly unpleasant event happens not once, not twice, but several times a night. Between this and the frequent trips to the bathroom that also is part of growing old, you start to wonder what the point of going to bed is. And of course, God forbid that you cough, laugh, or sneeze without adequate preparation!
The night sweats are something only you and your darling husband can share. However, the hot flashes are there for all to experience. Everyone else at work is comfortable while you are fanning yourself and seriously considering stripping off all your clothing; A possibility that 10 years ago wouldn’t have seemed so vile both to you and your co-workers. You are hot in the middle of winter, trying to explain why the air conditioner is running in January. And the summer becomes a never ending saga of clammy skin, red face and dripping hair. You have alienated your dogs by inserting yourself in their wading pool. Ice is your friend, fans a necessity and air conditioning a life support system that must not fail. During this time, the electric company is your dearest friend instead of your arch enemy.
Discouraged but hopeful, you seek the help of your friendly physician. After running a little blood test, you are told that your symptoms are indicative of Menopause. Ah, at last you understand. And now, there will be a pill, a shot, something to make your life worth living again.
Oh, you deluded woman! Now they have decided that hormones CAN cause cancer and are not really recommended. Well isn’t this just great. The generation who was enlightened enough to understand that women need not suffer during childbirth have decided that your golden years should be spent in the equivalent of hell on earth. There are many herbal remedies that you can try. I would suggest that you travel to the Holy Land and bathe in the Jordan river. Maybe that will do the trick because believe me, herbs don’t!
Sometimes during the night, my doctor’s face appears before me. Suddenly that kind, benevolent and smiling face turns into a terrifying maniacal laughing creature from a child’s storybook. As hard as I try to convince myself that he has my best interest at heart I cast a curse on him. The worst I can imagine.
“I HOPE YOUR WIFE GOES THROUGH EARLY MENOPAUSE AND RUINS YOUR LIFE.” Something tells me that this new breed of doctor will have an entirely different perspective when that day comes.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Underpants (nothing to do with cherries)
For lack of anything to blog about and my serious absence of friends, etc. to share my blog with, I've decided to post some of my previous writings here.
Call me quirky, whimsical or just down right deranged, but sometimes life just delivers those hysterical knee jerk moments. What bugs the crap out of me is I'm usually driving and can't write.
If ever there was someone who would benefit from a little tape recorder, it would sure be me.
Like today for instance. Driving home for lunch, taking the same route I always take and at blinding speed (ask my daughter) something happened to cause me to have to change my unmentionables.
The road home is a fairly straight shot until it forks and one has to choose either go left or go right (kind of like the political climate today.) Depending on traffic flow, either road works equally well for me, but today was a "go left, girl" kind of day.
Just as I turned on my left blinder, I glanced at the little shop in the fork in the road. The shop intrigues me since it has transformed itself from a dry cleaners into a little "antique" shop. Normally, I am a brand spanking new kind of chick unless the "collectible" has significant familial sentiment. But since I am always either A: going to work, or B: headed home from work and the shops tiny parking lot is difficult to negotiate....I've never stopped.
However, I think tomorrow may be the day. You see, they have put out a welcome sign even I cannot resist. Hanging on a common wire hanger, dancing merrily in the breeze, is the largest pair of women's drawers I have ever seen! I'm telling you there is enough nylon in those puppies to safely land a company of paratroopers. They are delightfully embellished with dainty lace trim and are so blindingly white I think my retinas are irreparably damaged.
I have to know. Are these gigantic underpants for sale? Are they antiques..(shiver!) Exactly what do those panties represent? Has Omar the tent maker taken up residence in Arkansas and is now sewing for the "hefty" set? Sidenote: Exactly what is the politically correct terminology for overweight these day? I need to know because I certainly qualify, but(t) even in my chubby eyes those lacy nylons seem gi-normous!
So, I'm dropping in tomorrow to learn the "skinny" (tongue in cheek.) I want to know the story behind (get it...behind?) the super sized underpants. Who knows, by tomorrow the matching bra may make an appearance.
Call me quirky, whimsical or just down right deranged, but sometimes life just delivers those hysterical knee jerk moments. What bugs the crap out of me is I'm usually driving and can't write.
If ever there was someone who would benefit from a little tape recorder, it would sure be me.
Like today for instance. Driving home for lunch, taking the same route I always take and at blinding speed (ask my daughter) something happened to cause me to have to change my unmentionables.
The road home is a fairly straight shot until it forks and one has to choose either go left or go right (kind of like the political climate today.) Depending on traffic flow, either road works equally well for me, but today was a "go left, girl" kind of day.
Just as I turned on my left blinder, I glanced at the little shop in the fork in the road. The shop intrigues me since it has transformed itself from a dry cleaners into a little "antique" shop. Normally, I am a brand spanking new kind of chick unless the "collectible" has significant familial sentiment. But since I am always either A: going to work, or B: headed home from work and the shops tiny parking lot is difficult to negotiate....I've never stopped.
However, I think tomorrow may be the day. You see, they have put out a welcome sign even I cannot resist. Hanging on a common wire hanger, dancing merrily in the breeze, is the largest pair of women's drawers I have ever seen! I'm telling you there is enough nylon in those puppies to safely land a company of paratroopers. They are delightfully embellished with dainty lace trim and are so blindingly white I think my retinas are irreparably damaged.
I have to know. Are these gigantic underpants for sale? Are they antiques..(shiver!) Exactly what do those panties represent? Has Omar the tent maker taken up residence in Arkansas and is now sewing for the "hefty" set? Sidenote: Exactly what is the politically correct terminology for overweight these day? I need to know because I certainly qualify, but(t) even in my chubby eyes those lacy nylons seem gi-normous!
So, I'm dropping in tomorrow to learn the "skinny" (tongue in cheek.) I want to know the story behind (get it...behind?) the super sized underpants. Who knows, by tomorrow the matching bra may make an appearance.
Busy trying to stay busy.
I've spent a great deal of time trying to both look and stay busy the past few weeks. The holidays are approaching fast and once again I am not even close to being prepared. My kitchen still isn't finished which is a source of frustration for me. If I knew how to cut and attach trim, I would be all over it. But, alas! I do not. I'm trying very hard to not be a B**** about the whole thing. I've even suggested we do one little project a day, nothing works. In Roger's defense, I know he has a lot on his plate with his dad, but good grief, let's just finish and be done.
Today the overhead garage door people are supposed to come and take my door to insulate it. I am really hoping this will help keep the house a little warmer this winter. We also plan on installing a small heater in the garage so that should make things more pleasant for dogs who need to sleep inside in inclimate weather. We are also putting gas logs in our fireplace. I am really tired of fighting the wood situation and I just want to have a little fire when I want one without a whole big production. Plus the advantages of not having soot everywhere is appealing too.
I am still one dog short of a pack. I had such an unhappy day yesterday thinking about the fact that it was cold and wet and my dog was lost.
Terry Bellah and I shot his last photography project Monday afternoon. Greenwood's basketball media pictures. It was strange to think that everything is slowly but surely grinding to a close. Even stranger to think that in February he will be experiencing a whole different culture in France. Maybe I'll go to Moffett...........I think they have a whole different culture there as well.:)
I'm really considering going to see my mom after Thanksgiving if gas prices stay within a decent price range.
Well, I guess I'd better wind up and wake Roger up, he is supposed to go to Kansas City today for a meeting and he said last night he was leaving at 7:00, he has 8 minutes to get ready.
Oh, can anyone advise me on how to get Jessie to relax......she seems to have difficulty in that area. :)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
3 Little Cherries Sittin' All Alone
Well, I have officially slipped into senility. It is all over. I worry sometimes about my lapse of good sense.
Everyone knows about my 2 socially retarded, crazed, running the yard like jungle monkeys rescue dogs. And further, everyone knows that Veronica could jump a 6 foot privacy fence in a single bound. The stories and images of fat old me scaling yard fences to retrieve my errant canine are legend and humorous beyond belief.
Veronica consumed me. I worried every second she wasn't tied or penned. When she was tied, I worried she would get tangled up and not be able to reach water or shelter. When she was penned I worried that she would feel isolated. In short......I worried every second of every day. And about once a week, she would manage to escape leading me on a recovery mission that involved climbing, running, walking, whistling and calling only to have her run from me like I was her worst nightmare. Then, when I would give up and decide that I would leave her to the cruel mercies of a big heartless world, turn my back on her and head for home dragging a leash behind me, she would plow into the back of me like I was her redeemer and salvation.
Last week, I had a repairman here working on my stove. He saw Veronica sitting atop her dog house gazing in the window and commented on what a pretty dog she was. I explained that she was one of my rescue projects that never got fulfilled. He talked about how he was looking for a dog to patrol his vast acreage in Oklahoma. I told this guy she wasn't the brightest bulb on the christmas tree and after some discussion it was determined that he would like to try to give her a home of her own where she would be the one and only dog. Someone's baby. My prayers were answered.
He came by the following evening and after some interesting introductions, loaded her in his truck and headed off with her. I believe this was Wednesday. By Friday he had called and said she had slipped the chain and "rund oft."
Saturday he called and said he had seen her but when he approached her she bolted and fled.
Sunday Roger and I loaded Jessie, Max and Betty (Veronica's equally crazy sister) and headed for Howe, Oklahoma. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours walking around 35 acres calling and trying to lure her back into our possession. All to no avail. No Veronica.
Now, I have spent hours crying over the fact that I should never have allowed this to happen. She was lost when I found her and after more than 2 years, tons of dog food and biscuits, hundreds of dollars of vet bills, she's lost again.
Why did I do this? I would like to say that I was only thinking of her and how much I wanted her to have a place of her own where she wouldn't be the lowest dog on the totem poll. How none of this would have happened if she hadn't been such a strange little duck. But the fact of the matter is, I did it for me. I wanted some peace. I wanted to not have to have my every waking moment consumed with the welfare of that little black and tan dog. How selfish am I? Now I will worry about her for the rest of my life. I feel like a total heel and I have nightmares thinking about her alone in the big world. If she were a different type of animal I would feel better. If she were one of those natural survivors that would run up in someone's yard, roll over and expose her tender parts and communicate what a sweet dog she was and how all she wanted was someone to love her. One of those dogs that a child would say, "Look, mom, she followed me home, can I keep her?" But no. Veronica is one of those dogs that will avoid human contact at all costs and in fact will probably project such a strange personality that someone will think she isn't all there in the head and decide to dispatch her to greener pastures.
I am just sick over this. I feel like the worst pet owner ever. After taking her in and refusing to allow anything bad to happen to her, I have put her in mortal peril. And my other 3 dogs know that there is a puzzle piece missing, even if it is the one that doesn't quite fit right. They miss her. Her sister has no one to rough house, play hide and seek and king of the hill with. Someone should take me to the country and turn me loose. If you see my dog, please call me.
Everyone knows about my 2 socially retarded, crazed, running the yard like jungle monkeys rescue dogs. And further, everyone knows that Veronica could jump a 6 foot privacy fence in a single bound. The stories and images of fat old me scaling yard fences to retrieve my errant canine are legend and humorous beyond belief.
Veronica consumed me. I worried every second she wasn't tied or penned. When she was tied, I worried she would get tangled up and not be able to reach water or shelter. When she was penned I worried that she would feel isolated. In short......I worried every second of every day. And about once a week, she would manage to escape leading me on a recovery mission that involved climbing, running, walking, whistling and calling only to have her run from me like I was her worst nightmare. Then, when I would give up and decide that I would leave her to the cruel mercies of a big heartless world, turn my back on her and head for home dragging a leash behind me, she would plow into the back of me like I was her redeemer and salvation.
Last week, I had a repairman here working on my stove. He saw Veronica sitting atop her dog house gazing in the window and commented on what a pretty dog she was. I explained that she was one of my rescue projects that never got fulfilled. He talked about how he was looking for a dog to patrol his vast acreage in Oklahoma. I told this guy she wasn't the brightest bulb on the christmas tree and after some discussion it was determined that he would like to try to give her a home of her own where she would be the one and only dog. Someone's baby. My prayers were answered.
He came by the following evening and after some interesting introductions, loaded her in his truck and headed off with her. I believe this was Wednesday. By Friday he had called and said she had slipped the chain and "rund oft."
Saturday he called and said he had seen her but when he approached her she bolted and fled.
Sunday Roger and I loaded Jessie, Max and Betty (Veronica's equally crazy sister) and headed for Howe, Oklahoma. We spent 2 and 1/2 hours walking around 35 acres calling and trying to lure her back into our possession. All to no avail. No Veronica.
Now, I have spent hours crying over the fact that I should never have allowed this to happen. She was lost when I found her and after more than 2 years, tons of dog food and biscuits, hundreds of dollars of vet bills, she's lost again.
Why did I do this? I would like to say that I was only thinking of her and how much I wanted her to have a place of her own where she wouldn't be the lowest dog on the totem poll. How none of this would have happened if she hadn't been such a strange little duck. But the fact of the matter is, I did it for me. I wanted some peace. I wanted to not have to have my every waking moment consumed with the welfare of that little black and tan dog. How selfish am I? Now I will worry about her for the rest of my life. I feel like a total heel and I have nightmares thinking about her alone in the big world. If she were a different type of animal I would feel better. If she were one of those natural survivors that would run up in someone's yard, roll over and expose her tender parts and communicate what a sweet dog she was and how all she wanted was someone to love her. One of those dogs that a child would say, "Look, mom, she followed me home, can I keep her?" But no. Veronica is one of those dogs that will avoid human contact at all costs and in fact will probably project such a strange personality that someone will think she isn't all there in the head and decide to dispatch her to greener pastures.
I am just sick over this. I feel like the worst pet owner ever. After taking her in and refusing to allow anything bad to happen to her, I have put her in mortal peril. And my other 3 dogs know that there is a puzzle piece missing, even if it is the one that doesn't quite fit right. They miss her. Her sister has no one to rough house, play hide and seek and king of the hill with. Someone should take me to the country and turn me loose. If you see my dog, please call me.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Rotten Cherry
Wow, there are just some days I would like to take a Louisville Slugger and take my frustrations out on a car, building................person.
After Roger losing his job in May and struggling with the blow to his self esteem that caused, he finally pulled himself up, formed his own company and has been working very steadily at trying to rebuild his life.
Today he received a cease and desist letter from his ex-employer stating that he cannot compete with them. Of course, the nature of his business does not compete with them, his company is basically the same as any other installation company that they might choose to hire to install their equipment. He does not distribute nor manufacture anything. We, of course, know from whence this little bomb originated.
I find it interesting that a big company would want a loyal employee of 20 years who found himself expendable through no fault of his own, to not have any means of producing a livelihood for himself. Neither of us are old enough for Medicare which means we have no health insurance, and with no jobs we certainly can't afford to pay a monthly premium to an independent insurance carrier. I guess they would prefer that we set fire to our house while we are asleep at night and just vanish from the face of the earth. That way they wouldn't have to run the risk of seeing Roger and have to face how they shafted him.
I am literally so furious that I can hardly speak. Therefore, my post shall be short.
I did want to publish for posterity that the beautiful Genevieve broke her sweet little arm this weekend. She is taking it like the trooper she is and hopefully it will all be nothing but a memory soon.
I am posting some pix of G and A's Halloween attire and a picture of each with me at lunch on Sunday. Love my little Edwards Girls! All 3 of them!
Bye!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Up On Cripple Creek
Have no idea how I manage to damage myself to such a large degree but I seem to have a talent for it. My left foot is causing me so much pain that it is distracting to say the least. I have had some injuries to my feet and ankles so I'm sure one of the "Ritis" brothers has moved in and set up shop.
When Roger and I were heavy into the kitchen remodel, I was on a step ladder and the door of the fridge that I was bracing myself on swung open and my foot slipped on the rung. I have a spur in the instep of this particular foot and all my weight (which is considerable) concentrated right on that spur area! Yikes.........the words I said are not fit to print. Everyone should go wash your eyes immediately because I'm sure the foulness of my language will seep through the print. However, that was months ago and the last week, my foot has been throbbing and I can put no weight on it at all which means I'm hobbling along which is now causing the pain to radiate into my calf, knee, thigh and hip.
The only redeeming thing is that right now I have absolutely no where that is necessary to go.
I am putting off my housekeeping duties until Thursday trying to give "footsie" time to feel better and to allow the cleaning to maybe last until Kaylee gets home from her trip.
Roger continues to pull his nursing duty in Greenwood. Honestly, I saw more of him when he was living in Kansas City. Good news here is that Grandpa B seems to getting better everyday. On a positive note, when Roger isn't here I can watch Dancing With the Stars without a constant running critical commentary. I still don't know who I want to win this year, Brooke Burke is absolutely phenomenal but I just don't like her much. I'm sort of pulling for Warren Sapp because he is very likeable, tries really hard and is paired with a girl that has had "duds" for partners forever and I'd like to see her get a break. Plus the football player is amazingly light on his feet for a "tank" of a man.
I am very sorry to report that Debbra's brother has passed away. I know how very difficult this is for someone having lost both of my brothers in a really short period of time. I feel very badly for her and if my foot feels like going, I will try to go to the funeral to lend my moral support.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeel, can't think of another thing to write about. Since I already know all this and no one else reads or comments. I think I'll go put my old sore foot up in the bed.
Wish I had someone to bring me a Cherry Creme Slush from Sonic.
Smmmmmmmmmoochies~
When Roger and I were heavy into the kitchen remodel, I was on a step ladder and the door of the fridge that I was bracing myself on swung open and my foot slipped on the rung. I have a spur in the instep of this particular foot and all my weight (which is considerable) concentrated right on that spur area! Yikes.........the words I said are not fit to print. Everyone should go wash your eyes immediately because I'm sure the foulness of my language will seep through the print. However, that was months ago and the last week, my foot has been throbbing and I can put no weight on it at all which means I'm hobbling along which is now causing the pain to radiate into my calf, knee, thigh and hip.
The only redeeming thing is that right now I have absolutely no where that is necessary to go.
I am putting off my housekeeping duties until Thursday trying to give "footsie" time to feel better and to allow the cleaning to maybe last until Kaylee gets home from her trip.
Roger continues to pull his nursing duty in Greenwood. Honestly, I saw more of him when he was living in Kansas City. Good news here is that Grandpa B seems to getting better everyday. On a positive note, when Roger isn't here I can watch Dancing With the Stars without a constant running critical commentary. I still don't know who I want to win this year, Brooke Burke is absolutely phenomenal but I just don't like her much. I'm sort of pulling for Warren Sapp because he is very likeable, tries really hard and is paired with a girl that has had "duds" for partners forever and I'd like to see her get a break. Plus the football player is amazingly light on his feet for a "tank" of a man.
I am very sorry to report that Debbra's brother has passed away. I know how very difficult this is for someone having lost both of my brothers in a really short period of time. I feel very badly for her and if my foot feels like going, I will try to go to the funeral to lend my moral support.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeel, can't think of another thing to write about. Since I already know all this and no one else reads or comments. I think I'll go put my old sore foot up in the bed.
Wish I had someone to bring me a Cherry Creme Slush from Sonic.
Smmmmmmmmmoochies~
Thursday, October 16, 2008
All the news that's fit to print.....
There really isn't a lot going on right now. I filed for my unemployment yesterday and I feel mixed emotions about that. I hate being handed something for nothing, but then I also hate not having any $ to contribute to the common good of my household. And since Roger and I are both dealing with no insurance (blah, blah, blah, blah, blah) and neither of us are old enough to qualify for Medicare, we have to be able to buy medicine, etc. Anyhoo, my benefit will be more than I could make working an entry level job somewhere so...........
I don't know what is wrong with my foot, it hurts so bad I can hardly put it on the ground to walk. It seems to be worse in the mornings when I first get up but if I have to stand on it for any length of time, it starts to scream in protest. Perhaps it is telling me "Hey, fat girl, lose some weight!"
I have a Mary Kay inventory coming in (should be today). My MK business is funny, I will go about 3 months and not sell a thing and then Bam! out of the woodwork I'll do a 2-300 week!
The work for Bellah's is swiftly drying up, there won't be much more to do there after about the middle of November. Terry has been accepted to culinary school in France so he will be bound for Paree in Feb. I'm really thrilled for him.
Well, I have a hair appointment at 10:00 so I guess I'd better shake my tail feathers and scoot.
:)
I don't know what is wrong with my foot, it hurts so bad I can hardly put it on the ground to walk. It seems to be worse in the mornings when I first get up but if I have to stand on it for any length of time, it starts to scream in protest. Perhaps it is telling me "Hey, fat girl, lose some weight!"
I have a Mary Kay inventory coming in (should be today). My MK business is funny, I will go about 3 months and not sell a thing and then Bam! out of the woodwork I'll do a 2-300 week!
The work for Bellah's is swiftly drying up, there won't be much more to do there after about the middle of November. Terry has been accepted to culinary school in France so he will be bound for Paree in Feb. I'm really thrilled for him.
Well, I have a hair appointment at 10:00 so I guess I'd better shake my tail feathers and scoot.
:)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Solitary Cherry
I'm home alone again tonight. Roger is in Greenwood sitting with his dad. I did get to watch "Dancing With The Stars" without any comments from my non-dancing husband.
I painted my first masterpiece (and I use the term loosely) today. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed painting. I'm not very good at it but I really love doing it so I will probably continue. I bought really cheap brushes and a very limited palette of oils to start. I hate to put a lot of money into a new project and have it turn up occupying space in a closet at some point.
I placed a Mary Kay order tonight since I was in my second quarter of inactivity. My BFF Judy ordered a bunch of stuff so I could justify restocking my shelves. Plus, some of the things she was wanting I didn't have on hand.
I took my old couch (which was my mom's old couch) to Tommy Jack and Debbra. It is kind of like that commercial on TV. What happens when YOU get new furniture........someone else gets new furniture too. It is still in decent shape and if they ever could afford a reupholster job it would be a great piece of furniture. It is just a little tired looking but justifiably so since it is probably 20 years old or close to it.
Tomorrow I don my "Hazel" personna and clean for Kaylee. And I need to get to Dillards and have them do a personalized fitting for new unmentionables (on top...not on bottom). Ewww! And I am going to try to get to the unemployment office this week and file for that so I can have a little income.
Gotta run and get some things done before bed.
Smoochies!
PS, this is what I looked like in high school. Check out the helmet hair. Roger said it looked like I had a hair bowling ball on my head.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Circus Cherries
Wow! I just finished watching the DVD that Kaylee brought back from the Boston Cirque Du Soleil show. What an amazing performance. Seeing one of these shows has been added to things to do before I die (Bucket List) along with skydiving and traveling to a foreign country. I have watched a lot of the documentaries about the auditions and the cast formations for these productions. I can't even imagine what it costs to stage these and pay these amazingly talented athletes. I really enjoyed watching it....thanks Kaylee for making it available to me.
I have my own circus performer here in the form of Veronica the dog. She can jump a 6 foot privacy fence in a single bound. After 2 days of being left off the tether and being very good, today she decided to vault the fence and then proceeded to run the neighborhood like a crazed jungle monkey for the better part of an hour. She was never out of my sight but she would run from me like she had never seen me before in her life. She is soooooo stupid! My life is pretty much completely centered around tying her up, untangling her, making her quit barking (caused by being tied up too much) or hunting her down when she leaves the Ponderosa. It doesn't help that I genuinely love those little strays and want them to have only good things in life. I guess everyone has a cross to bear and she is mine.....it's going to be a long long life!
Roger's dad continues to improve and we are all thankful for that. He and his sibs are taking turns staying with Grandma and Grandpa when there is not a home health care nurse available. I know they are all tired.
I bought some painting supplies and am going to try to pick up my art skills that have lain dormant for lo these many years. If money were not an issue I would take lessons again. I'd also love to learn to quilt. Life is funny, if you have money you have no time. When you have time you have no money. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? So far, I have gessoed my canvases so maybe tomorrow I'll actually pick up a brush and wait to be inspired.
Tuesday and Thursday I will clean for Kaylee again. I think maybe it went to hell in a hand basket over the weekend which was understandable since the "littles" probably wanted her to spend as much time as possible loving on them. The laundry is a big issue since little people go through lots of clothes.
I think I've got the micey people under control for a while, but if darling husband doesn't put "Finis" on the remodel I'm going to go live in the field and let them have it. I really want this all done before holidays. We are the world's worst at starting stuff and not finishing it.
Well, I'm putting the crust on the pie for tonight. Here's hoping that everyone's week is as rosy as cherry jam.
Smoochies!
I have my own circus performer here in the form of Veronica the dog. She can jump a 6 foot privacy fence in a single bound. After 2 days of being left off the tether and being very good, today she decided to vault the fence and then proceeded to run the neighborhood like a crazed jungle monkey for the better part of an hour. She was never out of my sight but she would run from me like she had never seen me before in her life. She is soooooo stupid! My life is pretty much completely centered around tying her up, untangling her, making her quit barking (caused by being tied up too much) or hunting her down when she leaves the Ponderosa. It doesn't help that I genuinely love those little strays and want them to have only good things in life. I guess everyone has a cross to bear and she is mine.....it's going to be a long long life!
Roger's dad continues to improve and we are all thankful for that. He and his sibs are taking turns staying with Grandma and Grandpa when there is not a home health care nurse available. I know they are all tired.
I bought some painting supplies and am going to try to pick up my art skills that have lain dormant for lo these many years. If money were not an issue I would take lessons again. I'd also love to learn to quilt. Life is funny, if you have money you have no time. When you have time you have no money. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? So far, I have gessoed my canvases so maybe tomorrow I'll actually pick up a brush and wait to be inspired.
Tuesday and Thursday I will clean for Kaylee again. I think maybe it went to hell in a hand basket over the weekend which was understandable since the "littles" probably wanted her to spend as much time as possible loving on them. The laundry is a big issue since little people go through lots of clothes.
I think I've got the micey people under control for a while, but if darling husband doesn't put "Finis" on the remodel I'm going to go live in the field and let them have it. I really want this all done before holidays. We are the world's worst at starting stuff and not finishing it.
Well, I'm putting the crust on the pie for tonight. Here's hoping that everyone's week is as rosy as cherry jam.
Smoochies!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Week and WeakEnd!
Yep, I know I misspelled it but it is true my end is weak! I have had a busy week this week. While darling daughter was on her trip to Boston I had the pleasure of making sure the "littles" were up and at school on time Monday through Thursday. It was quite an experience beginning with the fact that I am not used to arising from my warm and snuggly at 5:15 am. But I did manage to be on time so Matt could leave for work by 6:00. I usually did a load of laundry while waiting for the girls to arise and get their mojos working. They sort of like to veg on the couch after awakening for a while with their milk and watch TV. Then they are ready for breakfast. Genevieve is into Frosted Flakes so hers was easy. Audrey wanted toast with "white" butter and honey. This was a little trickier. Matt and Kaylee were almost out of butter so I had to put the butter tub in the microwave and melt what was there and pour it on her toast which meant she couldn't see it. That took some convincing that she did indeed have "white" butter. And to make matters worse I kept forgetting to take butter with me each morning. I did leave the container on the counter one day thinking Matt would notice, however, he very helpfully returned the empty butter container to the fridge :)
Hairdos were challenging because I'm just not used to doing anyone's hair which should be apparent by looking at mine. However, the girls and I bargained that they could have any kind of hairdo they wanted any day but Wednesday. Wednesday was picture retake day and I needed to make sure they looked good. This meant that Monday and Tuesday they both had 3 ponytails each!
Wednesday, Roger went with me to help since I knew hair was going to take longer than usual. We got them done in pretty good shape, left for school and the traffic was terrible and we wound up being maybe 2 minutes late but after pleading insanity with both their teachers they took pity on me and let it slide. However, I did find out later that the girls are supposed to wear shorts under their dresses which they didn't do and as a result got teased at school because someone saw their panties! Oooops, I felt just horrible about this. The big question was why Genevieve didn't tell me. Bear in mind this was the only day she didn't remark there was some required item of clothing that she was supposed to wear. If I had taken her to school wearing everything she told me she was supposed to wear she would have looked like she escaped from the circus. Wednesday was the day that Audrey told her Pawpaw his head was too big for my car and that it was going to bust out. Now everytime I try to get him to go somewhere in my car, he tells me his head is too big. Thanks Audrey for giving him a reason...he doesn't particularly like to go anywhere in my car because he can't smoke.
Thursday I cleaned house for Kaylee after dropping the girls off. I waited to do it on the day she was coming home so she would come back to a nice clean house. I know how nice that is after a long and tiring trip.
We are still on Grandpa B duty off and on. He is doing so much better at home than we could have expected. We are blessed that the whole nursing home debacle didn't cause anymore problems than it did.
We had big plans to work on finishing our house this weekend but now Roger is sick with a cold so I know that won't happen still yet again. And we have so many open spaces and holes right now that the little micey people are trying to come in and reside because it is getting downright chilly outside at night. So far I have trapped 2 of the little pests. I wish they would not make this necessary and stay on their own turf. After all, I don't try to live in their house, they shouldn't try to live in mine.
Shutting down now and going to bed. Maybe I can get good and asleep before Roger comes to bed and wakes me up with his fits of coughing and sneezing.
Cherry Kisses!
:)
Hairdos were challenging because I'm just not used to doing anyone's hair which should be apparent by looking at mine. However, the girls and I bargained that they could have any kind of hairdo they wanted any day but Wednesday. Wednesday was picture retake day and I needed to make sure they looked good. This meant that Monday and Tuesday they both had 3 ponytails each!
Wednesday, Roger went with me to help since I knew hair was going to take longer than usual. We got them done in pretty good shape, left for school and the traffic was terrible and we wound up being maybe 2 minutes late but after pleading insanity with both their teachers they took pity on me and let it slide. However, I did find out later that the girls are supposed to wear shorts under their dresses which they didn't do and as a result got teased at school because someone saw their panties! Oooops, I felt just horrible about this. The big question was why Genevieve didn't tell me. Bear in mind this was the only day she didn't remark there was some required item of clothing that she was supposed to wear. If I had taken her to school wearing everything she told me she was supposed to wear she would have looked like she escaped from the circus. Wednesday was the day that Audrey told her Pawpaw his head was too big for my car and that it was going to bust out. Now everytime I try to get him to go somewhere in my car, he tells me his head is too big. Thanks Audrey for giving him a reason...he doesn't particularly like to go anywhere in my car because he can't smoke.
Thursday I cleaned house for Kaylee after dropping the girls off. I waited to do it on the day she was coming home so she would come back to a nice clean house. I know how nice that is after a long and tiring trip.
We are still on Grandpa B duty off and on. He is doing so much better at home than we could have expected. We are blessed that the whole nursing home debacle didn't cause anymore problems than it did.
We had big plans to work on finishing our house this weekend but now Roger is sick with a cold so I know that won't happen still yet again. And we have so many open spaces and holes right now that the little micey people are trying to come in and reside because it is getting downright chilly outside at night. So far I have trapped 2 of the little pests. I wish they would not make this necessary and stay on their own turf. After all, I don't try to live in their house, they shouldn't try to live in mine.
Shutting down now and going to bed. Maybe I can get good and asleep before Roger comes to bed and wakes me up with his fits of coughing and sneezing.
Cherry Kisses!
:)
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sighs and groans and cherry stones
One thing you can be sure of is that life continues to hurl those curve balls in your direction. Sometimes you hit it out of the park and others you strike out.
When I was in high school, my senior class was extremely close and we have remained so for 40 years. We've all managed to stay connected and in touch with each other no matter how far we drifted from our home park. Our senior class president was a fun loving guy who began every meeting we had with the phrase, "I'm just so proud to be here." He was the oldest son of a woman who had lost her husband too early and worked in the drug store with my mom to raise her boys. Keith was a cowboy through and through, always the big stetson hat, the big shiny belt buckle, the big wad of "chew" in his jaw and the impeccable manners of a boy who learned early that women should be respected and treasured. Keith had a difficult time finding a girl to date in high school. We all loved him but to us he was our brother and we could never find it in ourselves to regard him otherwise. He had a huge crush on me for a long time and I think he had great hopes that our senior trip to Rockaway Beach, Missouri might cause me to see him in a whole different light. But it didn't, he was always "Banty Wayne" a nickname given to him by our football coach because of his scrappy personality on the football field. The coach told him he reminded him of a little Banty rooster and Keith embraced that title as he embraced everything else. Having no dad, I think he was so pleased that someone cared enough to label him and tease him because it meant they cared.
Since we all stayed in touch when I was a single mom living in Fort Smith with Kaylee I would see Keith from time to time. He worked for the FFA as a director of their fundraising projects. If you ever have the chance to purchase the FFA meats, you need to, they are great. Anyway, Keith would travel through Fort Smith about 4 times a year. He always planned his trips to overnight in Fort Smith and he would take me to dinner and take me dancing and show me a great time. And when he left, he made sure my freezer was stocked with bacon, ham and sausage. Sometimes when he came through town, he was married, sometimes he was single but it didn't matter he always checked on me and made sure I wasn't needing anything. Keith was a hard working, fun loving, beer drinking, lover of women and life. And he is gone. I learned yesterday that he died after suffering a heart attack. My sadness is great. My first thought was I am so glad that my BFF Helen is not alive to suffer this. She and Keith grew up together and were certainly as close as siblings. I don't think Helen could have stood losing Keith so now I know why God took Helen first. But one thing I know for sure is that as soon as Keith arrived in Heaven, he marched right up to those pearly gates and proclaimed, "I'm just so proud to be here!" And Keith, I am just so proud to have known you and been your friend for most of my life. I know you will put in a good word for me and I know just what you'll say.....Aw...you can let her in, she's a good 'ole gal. I love you and will miss you Banty more than I can say.
When I was in high school, my senior class was extremely close and we have remained so for 40 years. We've all managed to stay connected and in touch with each other no matter how far we drifted from our home park. Our senior class president was a fun loving guy who began every meeting we had with the phrase, "I'm just so proud to be here." He was the oldest son of a woman who had lost her husband too early and worked in the drug store with my mom to raise her boys. Keith was a cowboy through and through, always the big stetson hat, the big shiny belt buckle, the big wad of "chew" in his jaw and the impeccable manners of a boy who learned early that women should be respected and treasured. Keith had a difficult time finding a girl to date in high school. We all loved him but to us he was our brother and we could never find it in ourselves to regard him otherwise. He had a huge crush on me for a long time and I think he had great hopes that our senior trip to Rockaway Beach, Missouri might cause me to see him in a whole different light. But it didn't, he was always "Banty Wayne" a nickname given to him by our football coach because of his scrappy personality on the football field. The coach told him he reminded him of a little Banty rooster and Keith embraced that title as he embraced everything else. Having no dad, I think he was so pleased that someone cared enough to label him and tease him because it meant they cared.
Since we all stayed in touch when I was a single mom living in Fort Smith with Kaylee I would see Keith from time to time. He worked for the FFA as a director of their fundraising projects. If you ever have the chance to purchase the FFA meats, you need to, they are great. Anyway, Keith would travel through Fort Smith about 4 times a year. He always planned his trips to overnight in Fort Smith and he would take me to dinner and take me dancing and show me a great time. And when he left, he made sure my freezer was stocked with bacon, ham and sausage. Sometimes when he came through town, he was married, sometimes he was single but it didn't matter he always checked on me and made sure I wasn't needing anything. Keith was a hard working, fun loving, beer drinking, lover of women and life. And he is gone. I learned yesterday that he died after suffering a heart attack. My sadness is great. My first thought was I am so glad that my BFF Helen is not alive to suffer this. She and Keith grew up together and were certainly as close as siblings. I don't think Helen could have stood losing Keith so now I know why God took Helen first. But one thing I know for sure is that as soon as Keith arrived in Heaven, he marched right up to those pearly gates and proclaimed, "I'm just so proud to be here!" And Keith, I am just so proud to have known you and been your friend for most of my life. I know you will put in a good word for me and I know just what you'll say.....Aw...you can let her in, she's a good 'ole gal. I love you and will miss you Banty more than I can say.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Let's all have Cherry Fizzes!
Huge day yesterday in the accomplishments sector. Got all the laundry done and got some straightening up done in bedroom, office and both bathrooms. I really wish we could finish the remodel of the kitchen, it is really starting to wear on my nerves.
I'm really enjoying the housecleaning thing for Kaylee. I'm there alone except for Amber who just lays on the couch and watches (until I bring out the vacuum, then she goes on high alert). And, I am very appreciative of the fact that the Edwards family keeps it in good shape between visits. Typically there is little tidying to do and I can concentrate on getting the things done that really matter like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, & bathrooms. I love leaving it all nice and neat. I know that makes Kaylee feel better to come home to a nice clean house.
This week I will be taking G and A to school each day so I will have to drag my carcass out of the bed extra early. I am looking foward to it, they are usually really happy to go to school so that makes it loads easier for me.
My new business venture has taken a sudden down turn and I think I'm going to pull it off of life support. There is just something about my personality that seems to invite people to take advantage of me. I am just unwilling to put up with "crap" anymore so I'm going to let my potential "partner" take it and run with it if she can. I stay pretty busy with my own stuff anyway, unfortunately it doesn't pay worth a dang!
On a happier note, Roger's dad is really responding well to being back at home. Hopefully, we can all reach some conclusion about how to continue this type of treatment for him. How thoughtless we were to have not made sure that someone in the family was a nurse. We could really use one right now.
I'm going to run away from the blog right now. Perhaps I shall return if something truly exciting happens today. In the meantime, make your little darlings a cherry fizz. Put 2 fingers of cherry syrup (or raspberry or strawberry) in a tall glass, add 4 fingers of heavy cream and top off with ginger ale, 7-up, Sierra Mist, etc) stir and squirt some good ole canned whipped cream on top, give 'em a cherry garnish and a straw and let them enjoy!
Smoochies!
I'm really enjoying the housecleaning thing for Kaylee. I'm there alone except for Amber who just lays on the couch and watches (until I bring out the vacuum, then she goes on high alert). And, I am very appreciative of the fact that the Edwards family keeps it in good shape between visits. Typically there is little tidying to do and I can concentrate on getting the things done that really matter like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, & bathrooms. I love leaving it all nice and neat. I know that makes Kaylee feel better to come home to a nice clean house.
This week I will be taking G and A to school each day so I will have to drag my carcass out of the bed extra early. I am looking foward to it, they are usually really happy to go to school so that makes it loads easier for me.
My new business venture has taken a sudden down turn and I think I'm going to pull it off of life support. There is just something about my personality that seems to invite people to take advantage of me. I am just unwilling to put up with "crap" anymore so I'm going to let my potential "partner" take it and run with it if she can. I stay pretty busy with my own stuff anyway, unfortunately it doesn't pay worth a dang!
On a happier note, Roger's dad is really responding well to being back at home. Hopefully, we can all reach some conclusion about how to continue this type of treatment for him. How thoughtless we were to have not made sure that someone in the family was a nurse. We could really use one right now.
I'm going to run away from the blog right now. Perhaps I shall return if something truly exciting happens today. In the meantime, make your little darlings a cherry fizz. Put 2 fingers of cherry syrup (or raspberry or strawberry) in a tall glass, add 4 fingers of heavy cream and top off with ginger ale, 7-up, Sierra Mist, etc) stir and squirt some good ole canned whipped cream on top, give 'em a cherry garnish and a straw and let them enjoy!
Smoochies!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Too Pooped to Pop!
Well, after an eventful 2 days in the nursing home, Grandpa is back in his own place. The nursing home kept breaking him so everyone decided he was better off in his own digs. I have worked a ton the last 2 weeks doing stuff for Terry and cleaning for Kaylee and I'm pretty well done in. Roger has spent way too many nights away from home with no rest and I know he's exhausted. Hopefully we will have a very low key weekend. I will be on Edwards Littles duty next week while darling daughter is in Bean Town for training.
My week was upsetting on lots of levels but perhaps the most upsetting was the realization that my new business venture was shaping up to be a train wreck. Somehow the wheels I set in motion became someone elses' idea of a way to "screw" me. I'm really tired of this whole mind set that I'm not smart enough to know what is going on. And....lie to me once....shame on you...lie to me twice....shame on me! I am not ever going to give someone the opportunity to lead me down the primrose path again. So I have shut the door on that and I'm not looking back.
I am pretty tired tonight so my post is short. No one ever reads this thing anyway but I really enjoy having the chance to capture my thoughts. Sweet dreams to all and to all a goodnight!
My week was upsetting on lots of levels but perhaps the most upsetting was the realization that my new business venture was shaping up to be a train wreck. Somehow the wheels I set in motion became someone elses' idea of a way to "screw" me. I'm really tired of this whole mind set that I'm not smart enough to know what is going on. And....lie to me once....shame on you...lie to me twice....shame on me! I am not ever going to give someone the opportunity to lead me down the primrose path again. So I have shut the door on that and I'm not looking back.
I am pretty tired tonight so my post is short. No one ever reads this thing anyway but I really enjoy having the chance to capture my thoughts. Sweet dreams to all and to all a goodnight!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Cherry Limeade
Life is like a plate of Chinese food, sweet and sour. Today Roger and his siblings and mother had to make the difficult decision to put his Dad in a nursing facility. Grandpa is still pretty sharp and has a decent memory and grasp of the day to day but he just is unable to be as mobile as everyone would like. I know how difficult this decision is for everyone concerned. All I can do is try to help Roger see the positive side of it. His dad is now literally minutes away from us and we can drop in on him several times a day. This also brings him closer to many of his granchildren and they also can run in and out and check on him. Once the facility realizes that he has many people who care and are prone to pop in and out, the quality of his care will be much better.
However, nursing homes are such depressing places that you hate to see someone you love have to endure them. To make matters worse, he knows where he is and he knows he is alone there. He cannot have overnight company which means Grandma can't stay with him.
We can only hope that he is able to get some strength and confidence built up in his own abilities where he and Tura can once again live together in their home. Must run for now, it is my night to babysit the Edwards Littles. More to come................
However, nursing homes are such depressing places that you hate to see someone you love have to endure them. To make matters worse, he knows where he is and he knows he is alone there. He cannot have overnight company which means Grandma can't stay with him.
We can only hope that he is able to get some strength and confidence built up in his own abilities where he and Tura can once again live together in their home. Must run for now, it is my night to babysit the Edwards Littles. More to come................
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Put a Cherry On It!
Yesterday was such a great day. Roger and I both spent the day doing pretty much what we wanted to. I made a big angel food cake which we both really enjoyed and later we took a large slice to Grandpa in the hospital. That little man sure never turns down a sweet treat. After a nice visit we went to Christ The King's Pasta and Paintings supper where we enjoyed a nice spaghetti dinner, good fellowship with family and then we returned home for cake and coffee. Angie, Patrick and Abby came by after the supper to watch a little football, drink coffee and have cake. We also got to see Genevieve, Audrey, Kaylee and Matt yesterday on kind of an in and out basis.
Genevieve and Audrey had both created works of art for the art sale and of course, I purchased both. Abby was absent on that day so she didn't have a picture :( What was really neat about the art is Genevieve's carried a predominately purple theme which will look lovely in my office. And Audrey painted a masterpiece evocative of the green grass all around so it will hang in the hall bathroom. I love them both and can't wait to have them framed.
Then to put a cherry on top of my sundae, I found out from Kim Singer that we have been awarded the contract for Greenwood Public Schools. Wow! Out of the frying pan and into the fire! I also had occasion to speak with Mr. Hattabaugh, the superintendent of schools at Mansfield last night and let him know that he will be receiving our proposal next week.
I have a wicked busy week coming up. I am helping Terry shoot Northside (my least favorite place to be) and so I will be whipped by weekend but maybe a little financially better off. Gotta run, this is my only day to clean my house before the craziness begins.
Peace and love! :)
Genevieve and Audrey had both created works of art for the art sale and of course, I purchased both. Abby was absent on that day so she didn't have a picture :( What was really neat about the art is Genevieve's carried a predominately purple theme which will look lovely in my office. And Audrey painted a masterpiece evocative of the green grass all around so it will hang in the hall bathroom. I love them both and can't wait to have them framed.
Then to put a cherry on top of my sundae, I found out from Kim Singer that we have been awarded the contract for Greenwood Public Schools. Wow! Out of the frying pan and into the fire! I also had occasion to speak with Mr. Hattabaugh, the superintendent of schools at Mansfield last night and let him know that he will be receiving our proposal next week.
I have a wicked busy week coming up. I am helping Terry shoot Northside (my least favorite place to be) and so I will be whipped by weekend but maybe a little financially better off. Gotta run, this is my only day to clean my house before the craziness begins.
Peace and love! :)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Dancing Cherries
I want to take ballroom dancing lessons. At my age and weight, I figure I could be just as funny as Leachmann
I'm living in a fish bowl!
I'm having one of those swimming round and round and getting nowhere weeks. My little fins are getting a wee bit frazzled. I've also experience not just a little bit of frustration in my ability to completely make bad situations worse. I'll swear I can do more harm with good intentions than most people who deliberately set out to destroy.
Personally, I am scared to death on more streets than I can name. I worry about how the current economic situation is going to affect my husband's brand new business. I worry about the fact that I don't have a job (my own fault, I realize) but none the less.....I worry about both Roger's and my health and the lack of health insurance. I went to Wal-Greens today to refill my thyroid medication and it cost $44.00 and the young man said "Just so you know, this isn't covered by your insurance." Well that ticked me off so I replied, "Just so you know, I don't have any insurance." Then when I went to pick it up, the girl ringing me out said, "Don't you have insurance?" Okay, that particular scab needs to be left alone for awhile. It is really starting to hurt when you pick at it.
I worry about my mom who just had a birthday, lives in Texas long and far away and got a birthday card from my ex-sister-in-law who included a picture of my mom's "boyfriend" with some other woman that had been published in the paper. Now, maybe it's just me, but I thought that was a little mean spirited. Considering the fact the picture was 4 or 5 months old and she had just seen this "family" member about 2 weeks ago and she never mentioned it. I think to send something like that in someone's birthday card was nothing short of evil. My mom has always loved this girl and treated her like her own daughter, no, cancel that....better than her own daughter. It really hurt my mom and then she found out that the woman lives about a mile from her, so obviously "boyfriend" has been making his trips to town really count! Consider that we are talking about people in their late 80s and this is sortof funny but it hurt my mom to think that he wouldn't tell her about something like that and that her friend would do something so thoughtless as to send it in her card without even saying anything about it. SCREAM!!!!!!
I worry about my children, my grandchildren, my friends and heck sometimes even people I hardly know.
I found out today that the father of a girl I had as a boy's club cheerleader many years ago, died suddenly last week from a bleeding stroke. He was still a young man and had a child still in high school. I just think that is tragic. And it makes me realize that you can never assume that you always have tomorrow or next week or next year to make things right with people, tell them you love them and try to make sure that you have no reason for regrets.
I'm really tired today, physically, mentally and emotionally. Roger is spending the night at the hospital again tonight which he really doesn't need to do since he just returned from a very tiring trip so I guess I'll put it to bed early, take my Advil PM and shut out the problems for just a little while. I have a booger of a week next week so I will need all my reserves hitting on all cylinders.
In closing, I would advise eating no cherries today....I'm pretty sure they will be rotten to the pits! Smoochies from my poochies.
Personally, I am scared to death on more streets than I can name. I worry about how the current economic situation is going to affect my husband's brand new business. I worry about the fact that I don't have a job (my own fault, I realize) but none the less.....I worry about both Roger's and my health and the lack of health insurance. I went to Wal-Greens today to refill my thyroid medication and it cost $44.00 and the young man said "Just so you know, this isn't covered by your insurance." Well that ticked me off so I replied, "Just so you know, I don't have any insurance." Then when I went to pick it up, the girl ringing me out said, "Don't you have insurance?" Okay, that particular scab needs to be left alone for awhile. It is really starting to hurt when you pick at it.
I worry about my mom who just had a birthday, lives in Texas long and far away and got a birthday card from my ex-sister-in-law who included a picture of my mom's "boyfriend" with some other woman that had been published in the paper. Now, maybe it's just me, but I thought that was a little mean spirited. Considering the fact the picture was 4 or 5 months old and she had just seen this "family" member about 2 weeks ago and she never mentioned it. I think to send something like that in someone's birthday card was nothing short of evil. My mom has always loved this girl and treated her like her own daughter, no, cancel that....better than her own daughter. It really hurt my mom and then she found out that the woman lives about a mile from her, so obviously "boyfriend" has been making his trips to town really count! Consider that we are talking about people in their late 80s and this is sortof funny but it hurt my mom to think that he wouldn't tell her about something like that and that her friend would do something so thoughtless as to send it in her card without even saying anything about it. SCREAM!!!!!!
I worry about my children, my grandchildren, my friends and heck sometimes even people I hardly know.
I found out today that the father of a girl I had as a boy's club cheerleader many years ago, died suddenly last week from a bleeding stroke. He was still a young man and had a child still in high school. I just think that is tragic. And it makes me realize that you can never assume that you always have tomorrow or next week or next year to make things right with people, tell them you love them and try to make sure that you have no reason for regrets.
I'm really tired today, physically, mentally and emotionally. Roger is spending the night at the hospital again tonight which he really doesn't need to do since he just returned from a very tiring trip so I guess I'll put it to bed early, take my Advil PM and shut out the problems for just a little while. I have a booger of a week next week so I will need all my reserves hitting on all cylinders.
In closing, I would advise eating no cherries today....I'm pretty sure they will be rotten to the pits! Smoochies from my poochies.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Cherries are good for the memory!
Yes, now I remember what it is I hate about school pictures. The early mornings, having to be up and dressed at the butt crack of dawn to go and lug heavy equipment and say, "Good morning...how are you today? Sit down and put both of your feet on the X. Now turn your head toward the camera, look right here and smile." "Click" a few hundred times a day. I am seriously rethinking my agreement to helping Terry next week at Northside.
How-some-ever...I need to be making all the money I can while the opportunities are still there so I guess I'll just suck it up and shut up. I went and bought dog food last night, holy cats! Everything in the world is getting so expensive I truly do not know where it is all going to lead us. Our fearless leaders in the great white house seem to be strangely ignorant of how truly bad things are. I just wish everyone could say "overs" and start again. And, the most important election of my life is about to happen and I don't feel confident enough in either candidate to put my heart and soul into my vote. Maybe the eenie meenie miney mo thing will be the best bet.
Gotta go and get ready so I don't scare little children this morning.
Have a splendiferous day! Don't eat too many cherries.....they have some pretty nasty side effects! Smoochies!
PS - I love this picture......Genevieve looks so happy - Pawpaw is asleep (hahahahaha)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Today is the first day of the rest.......................
of my life. Blah, blah, blah. The same person who wrote that must have been the jerk who says there are no such things as problems, only opportunities. Sweetie, a pig is still a pig no matter how you dress it!
This morning I am heading to Darling Daughter's to do some tidying for her. Tomorrow I go shoot school pictures with Terry, then back to tidy some more on Thursday. I'm really not lazy, but all in the world I want to not HAVE to do things.
Isn't it funny that we all have these things that we want in our heart of hearts. And we struggle and strive to obtain them only to find they are fingertips further away after the struggle. Maybe this is God's way of telling us we need to find our happiness now with what we do have as opposed to constantly trying to achieve something better. Wow, where did that philosophy come from?
It has taken me a long time, loads of mistakes, wasted opportunities and much hand wringing to understand that inner peace, contentment and dare I say it, yes Joy comes from inside not outside. Seeing your life and realizing all the wonderful things about it instead of looking at the negatives with a microscope helps to set your mind in a better place. I have literally made myself wake up everyday and try to find something positive to think about and it is helping. Oh, there are still those black cloud moments but not so many any more. I think one thing that has really helped me is seeing how happy Roger is with his situation right now. After life dealt him a crushing blow, he took the time to recover and then stepped out in faith in a whole new direction. I know there are times when he is afraid he has done the wrong thing, but by and large I believe he is truly happy with the choice he made.
So I am trying to walk the faith walk as well. I will do what I can to make sure there is dog food in 4 bowls, the lights still burn and we still can put a few gallons of gas in the car and past that I will have to trust that God will provide. And I will no longer operate my life from a position of weakness, need and fear. I have a wonderful partner, great kids, fantastic grandchildren, a few good friends and warm fuzzy dog companions to love me. Truly who could ask for more.
Here's hoping we all have the enthusiasm of Genevieve as shown in this picture!
Monday, September 22, 2008
This is the Pits!
I'm sending cherry stones to everyone who doesn't comment on my blog. Boo, hiss to you! I will eventually lose heart and stop regaling you with my wit. Stop that...you will hurt my feelings!
I will be doing some school pix shooting for the next 2 weeks. I know I vowed never to do so again, but the dogs need to eat, I on the other hand can live off my reserves for several years.
I got to see my good friend Judy yesterday for a moment. I miss her a bunch, we always have the best time. Anyway, she is my best Mary Kay customer (thanks Judy!) and she came by to pick up her recent order on the way to a shower. She is such a good gifter, she is on everyone's guest list. This will be my last post today since it is almost 6:00 and I don't expect anything riveting will happen at this late hour. Kisses, kisses
PS By the way, if you want to put lipstick on your pig, please let me sell it to you, I have some lovely new shades that will be equisite on the porcine set.
I will be doing some school pix shooting for the next 2 weeks. I know I vowed never to do so again, but the dogs need to eat, I on the other hand can live off my reserves for several years.
I got to see my good friend Judy yesterday for a moment. I miss her a bunch, we always have the best time. Anyway, she is my best Mary Kay customer (thanks Judy!) and she came by to pick up her recent order on the way to a shower. She is such a good gifter, she is on everyone's guest list. This will be my last post today since it is almost 6:00 and I don't expect anything riveting will happen at this late hour. Kisses, kisses
PS By the way, if you want to put lipstick on your pig, please let me sell it to you, I have some lovely new shades that will be equisite on the porcine set.
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