WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT......

                                                     

A few days ago I decided to join the world of Facebook. I'd heard a little bit about it from a teenage daughter of our friends so naturally I assumed it was a network for the raging hormone throngs. A couple of friends told me that they had reconnected with some of our mutual old (no insult intended by old) friends via Facebook so I decided to check it out. I'm not altogether convinced that there isn't a hormone raging throng of oldies on Facebook too. Whatever floats their boat I guess. What a pleasant surprise though to find multitudes of us oldies (but goodies) participating in this new age technology. I've been having a ball finding lost friends and catching up with those I don't see often. Today, Tara's pre-school teacher that we have kept in touch with with all these years (yep 30+ 0f them) confirmed me as a friend on Facebook! It's really fun to see the pictures people post. I get to see children and grandchildren and all sorts of things that people are up to. Now I've got to find news worthy topics and interesting conversation for my posts....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04RZrf3-Mgo&feature=related

Angels Among Us

                                                       
One of my friends (I will not say her name out of respect for her privacy- let's call her Jill for now) has had a week of losses. She is not married and her cats are her children. Several years ago she rescued an adult Maine Coon she named Charlie Brown. It took months for her to get him to stay out from under the bed. Then he began sleeping on the bed with her, then he began sleeping on her and she became his person. Charlie Brown was the upstairs cat and had little or no interactions with the other cats. I remember how excited Jill was when Charlie Brown began coming to the top of the stairs to greet her. There were lots of Charlie Brown stories and I always looked forward to hearing the latest adventure. From the beginning he had urinary problems and had the most attentive and best care and treatment any cat could wish for. This last episode was just too much for him though. I got a call early last Friday morning from Jill asking if I could come to the Emergency Vet and sit with her because Charlie Brown had become unresponsive in the wee hours. Shortly after I got there the Vet broke the news that he was not going to make it. I helped her take Charlie Brown home and we called Derrick, the guy who does both our yards to ask if he could come bury him. It was heart wrenching to see the pain and loss on her face as we waited. She picked out a burial spot in a shaded area of her garden and when the three guys showed up the five of us proceeded in a single line funeral procession down the stepping stones to the site. After the grave was dug and Charlie Brown was placed, one of the guys asked if she wanted to say anything before the grave was covered. I didn't think she would be able to say anything but she said yes she would like to say the Lord's prayer. We all bowed our heads and Jill began to recite the prayer - then right at the end she began reciting some other prayer. When she finished, she said she didn't know exactly what she got off on and Derrick said "You must not have been praying much lately" and that made us all laugh (which was badly needed). They placed a wrought iron cross to mark the grave and we left Charlie Brown to rest in peace.



Yesterday Jill called to say that one of her "outside kitties" Sophie was missing. I told her to not give up yet because Mary George (my cat) was missing for two weeks one time and then just suddenly showed back up early one morning and walked right in and announced herself. I was hoping that Sophie would return yesterday. Then this morning I got an email from Jill saying that she and Derrick buried Sophie this morning. She found her next door on the neighbor's carport. Sophie, was a stray that showed up several years ago and Jill tried and tried to get her to come inside but Sophie never would and would never let Jill pet her. She was provided ample food and shelter and veterinary care and love from a distance (since that's all she'd allow) - but I know she knew she was loved all the same.



There are angels among us and in this case I think it went both ways. Charlie Brown and Sophie were sent to fill a certain spot in a heart and life that was big enough to take them in and love them and my friend Jill was there when they needed her most.

There is a lesson to be learned here...I believe that there are angels among us. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors, gender and species. There may be one right under our nose and if we don't take the time to look we may miss seeing them and therefore miss a real blessing.

The Sneezy Breezy Days of Summer vs Love is in the Air

Marti and Tara 1978

The last days of spring are dying out and the days are getting longer each day. In our part of the world it gets hot long before summer offically arrives. Shorts and flip flops are usually a wardrobe staple by early April. We live in a green, lush, humid environment and for those of us who suffer with seasonal allergies this is the time of year to buy kleexes in bulk. I am having a particularly nasty episode today....well it started yesterday and has continued into today. It could be anything - pollen, mold, dust, cat hair- (oh no that can't be it - I deal with cat hair 365 but that's another story). My throat is sore, my head hurts, I'm wheezy, my nose is snuffy or is that stuffy? - and I'm just grouchy in general. I've taken antihistamines to dry me up and decongestants to open me up and so far they seem to just be canceling each other out. What a conundrum. To add to the misery, the lovebugs have shown up. I don't know if you have lovebugs in your neck of the woods but let me tell you - they are a pain in the patooty. They are everywhere and you dare not open your mouth for fear that they will fly right in two by two! At my age you would think that I should know all about the birds and the bees but what about the (love) bugs? I guess there are some things in life that are just better left alone. I'm willing to leave them alone but I somehow don't expect them to reciprocate.  The last time I blogged was the week before Easter. We had a good visit with my Mom and then the next week she had pneumomia and was back in the hospital for almost a week. She's back pretty much to her normal self now.  Mother's Day is coming up Sunday. I feel like the luckiest Mother in the world to have such a wonderful daughter.. Every Mother's Day is more special because I have had another year to love her.  I'll end on a note that always makes me smile.

Time Flies

                                                            

Can it be..... months have flown by and here it is spring 2009. These past months have been a whirlwind for me. My Mom is still in the nursing home. She seems happy but has pretty much been ill to some extent since she's been there. Pneumonia, bronchitis, UTI..... I have started taking time for myself again though. It is a neccesity in order to maintain my sanity. I've been painting some, writing some and reading a lot. I also started a new project....I joined an online artsite ... http://www.fineartamerica.com/ . I may never sell one piece of my art but it is fun thinking about the possibility and seeing other artists' work.



Tony finished his boat ... the one he started before Katrina changed his plans for him. He launched it about a month ago and we have been enjoying being able to go up in the small bayous that we couldn't access in the pontoon boat.



Easter is this coming Sunday. My sister is coming and we plan to bring my Mom to my house for the first over night stay she's had. I'm looking forward to it with an underlying anxiety that she will tolerate it well. Will update you next week on how it went.

Wintertime Blues

                                               
Winter finally found us and the leaves are now all on the ground. Woke up at 6AM to large fluffy snowflakes falling steadily past my window which is a rarity in south Mississippi. It didn't stick of course and over the course of the day has turned into a steady dreary rain. The cats and I have been bed bugs all day. Haven't even gotten out of my PJs.

Can't believe how much time has lapsed since my last post. Today is the first time I've been able to sit down and try to put my thoughts and feelings into some order. In October and early November I was taking an oil painting class with some friends and also a writing class. I was really enjoying it when I developed acute bursitis in my right shoulder and had to drop out. This on the heels of a frozen left shoulder last year. I had an injection of cortisone and went through several PT sessions. Still have some discomfort but that has been the least of my concerns this last month. The end of October my sister came for a visit and we spent two days and nights with our Stepmom. We laughed and looked at old pictures and reminisced. We took a trip to Red Bluff where we used to go as kids. Little did we know that it might be the last "girls weekend" we would have. Three weeks later my 78 year old stepmother fell and hit her head and was hospitalized for evaluation. She can't remember when, where, why or how the fall happened. My sister and her fiance came down and we had Thanksgiving at my house. My emotional state was fragile after dealing with fall after math so my daughter Tara and Mary cooked a delicious meal and we were able to celebrate the day together before Bernie went into Rehab. She obviously had some sort of neurological episode and is now in the convalescent center where they are working with her on mobility and memory. My stress level has been over the top trying to make sure I am doing all I can to take care of her affairs. On top of that, we had to have her little dog put to sleep. I never knew a human being was able to produce as many tears as I have over the past three weeks. I am thankful that I have a wonderful sister so we can support one another through this.

Christmas is around the corner and I cannot rally the old Christmas cheer. I've done no shopping nor have I sent any Christmas cards. For the first time I may not. I was not going to put up a tree but my sister found an antique aluminum tree at an estate sale so I finally decided to put it up. It actually looks cute albeit a little Charlie Brownish. This is the first time EVER that we have not had a live tree. It doesn't feel right....I still may have to get a small one or may I may regret it later.

I am trying to count my blessings instead of my trials praying for a brighter New Year.

Memory Lane

                                                  

                                                            Aunt Emmie's Flowers

Taking a trip down Memory Lane can transport you to a time and place that can bring both happiness and sadness at once. I'm quite sentimental so I don't often let myself travel there unless I'm ready to let the emotions overcome me. I didn't plan on going there on this particular day but I've ended up there anyway. For days I have been trying to clean out and up. Although I already know what's in the boxes, cabinets, picture albums and cards; I have to look inside - just to reassure myself that the evidence of the life I've led and those I love are still there. Knowing full well the emotions will overcome me and make me feel things that are painful and others that are so instense with the joy they evoke. I guess we humans are both blessed and cursed to be able to feel both elation and the abject misery that can be associated with memories. Rummaging through the cards and letters, pictures and some of my journals this week, I've kept the emotions in check just below the surface, although the melancholy has been gnawing away at me. Then tonight I blew it. I turned the tv on and there it was ..."The Trip To Bountiful". I've seen this movie several times and I swore I wouldn't watch it again after the first time...not because I hated it - but because I loved it. It made me feel and remember and appreciate. Yet those feelings and memories are so vivid it's hard for me to process them. In spite of that, I cannot resist watching it every single time. Just like I know what's in the boxes - I know what reaction I will have to the movie. Maybe it's not so much a reaction to the movie as it is to the things the movie symbolizes for me. It is remembering a time gone by and the people and things and places that you've loved and lost ...and perhaps for me - the people and things in my life today and how I appreciate and love them. Because, nothing is forever and we so often take so much for granted. I never knew my paternal or maternal grandparents and have wished so many times that I could have known them and talked to them and shared some of their memories. I spent a lot of time in the house where my father grew up because my Father's brother and his family lived there. It was just the same as it was when my Grandpa and Grandma Reagan lived there...plain plank walls and floors, no air conditioning, a well where we drew cool water up in a bucket and drank it from a dipper. Several years ago I went there and spent the entire day by myself....walking from room to room -remembering...
hearing the sounds, smelling the aromas, replaying the scenes over in my mind. I picked some bright, yellow lazy susans I spotted outside the kitchen window and placed them in an old enamel pitcher I found out back. I photographed them on the window sill as the sun spilled in and the breeze gently blew the curtains and I left feeling both fuller for the remembering and emptier for the loss. I'm so glad I took the time to go that day because one of my cousins who grew up there had the house demolished after that. It broke my heart. I can't understand why she would do that but then we can't always see into the hearts and minds of others. I guess the best we can do is to live each day to the fullest and love those we care about each minute with all we have. If you have never seen "The Trip To Bountiful"... please do. Just be ready to take a trip down your memory lane.

                                                                                      Self Portrait 

 

The Other Woman

      








I know what I said earlier about renewing the upcoming wedding vows ....but I have to confess.....I never thought I would have to contend with "the other woman" in my life. I should have known that like most men, Tony would eventually fall for some sweet, demure, beautiful, adoring female. To make things even worse, they have the audacity to rub my nose in it. I can see why he's become so smitten. Unlike me, she never asks him to take out the garbage or nags him about getting a hair cut or reminds him of the never ending honey do list. Oh nooooo...her sole purpose in life is to constantly fawn over him and be completely non-demanding. What man could resist that. It's been going on for a while. It started about three years ago when Tara moved back home and brought Her. I never saw it coming. At first she acted shy, then she started flirting with him and the next thing I know she's all over him. Sometimes when he thinks I'm not around I overhear him sweet talking her. There are times when she blatantly flaunts her allure over him in my face. It's particularly nauseating to see her look up at him with those big green adoring eyes and reach up and lovingly touch his face! The little trollop. It's not bad enough that I have to watch this display every day but now I have to see it on the weekends too. When we go to the camp She has to come too. Not only that....she has has claimed a place right in the middle of our bed. I guess I can't really blame her for falling hard for him...heck I did the same thing 38 years ago!  Still....I think I am a lucky woman even if I have to share his attention with Her. LUCKY ! - you say. Yep. Anytime a cat falls that hard for a man and visa versa - he has to be a pretty good guy - right?