Success

Success in life is not whether you win, but how you play the cards you are dealt.  - Johnny

My husband comes up with the best comments.  This is just one.

I love you.

 

I Want to do it Myself

My hubby….In the garage..one more time.  He’s changing the struts on the 20 year-old Jaguar….I can’t believe our cute little car is 20 years old.  So here we are, me on the computer watching my favorite person in the whole world work on the car.  

It’s only 96 degrees….not that bad.  Since we have gotten older, heat isn’t nearly as daunting as it was when we were in our 40s.  So if you come to our house and the temperature control is set at 80, please understand……and turn down the air.  Don’t you worry, we will turn it back after you leave.  Forgive us please!  One of these days you might be cold when the temp reaches 80….you will understand around age 75.

 

“Why are you working on the car when we could take it to a repair shop?”, I asked.  With a strong voice and a sense of pride he told me he wanted to “just do it myself”.  I understood immediately.  Sometimes I just want to do it myself, too.

Don’t you worry, I will be right here beside him just like the old days.  If that photo looks a little scary to you, believe you me, he puts safety first.  Nonetheless, I checked it out myself. Just did it himself.  

I love you. 

Just Another Saturday Night

Have you been outside tonight?

I am going to suggest you get outside, right now, right this minute.  This minute will never come again.  Okay, I know if you read this sometime in the future this minute has done and gone.  (My English teacher wouldn't like that grammar.). See how fast time slips away?  Gosh, even now, that minute has passed for me and another one is almost gone.  

Well that was a bit of a downer, wasn't it?  Let's lighten things up and remember our blessings.  

1.  It is a beautiful night.  The frogs and cricket noises are so loud tonight, but after a while they are just background noise. It is funny that ever once in a while they will ALL totally shut up.  Then the silence is almost as loud as the frogs.  All that noise brings back camping memories.

2.  The air is so cool that I can feel fall in the air.  Despite the heat of the summer day, in July and August Oklahoma nights begin to cool, not ever night but some:  The humidity has something to do with this.  While I type, the back of my arms are cool and a light wrap might feel nice.  

3.  Bouncing basketballs, children laughing. something that sound like sparklers sizzling, and now and again a crying two year old is also what I hear.  A new young couple with two younger children have moved across the street.  They are putting new life into our retirement age neighborhood.  It is nice to know that our quiet neighborhood will continue to be a beautiful place to read a family.  Dad...keep bouncing the basketball.  It brings happiness to this woman who lives across the street.

4.  When we built here 45 years ago, everyone on our street was about the same age with growing families.  Some of the neighbors moved on, some have passed away, but some are still here......you can only imagine how old we are now!!!!!!  As Cher would say, "and the beat goes on...and on...and on.  

5.  My heart is happy.  I have been in contact with most of my family in one way or another this week.  My brother-in-law had a health scare this week, but seems to be doing better.  That is a blessing and an answered prayer.

6.  Yesterday, we laid a lot of sod with a lot of help from our grandsons and our daughter and son.  Today, the grass looks a little yellow at this point.  We will keep watering and fertilizing and maybe we will have green grass all the way to the street.  

7.  Tonight my daughter and son-in-law are at an outdoor concert.  I hope they have a lot of fun.  I have wonderful memories of doing the same thing some 40 years ago.  We need to make that happen again.

8.  Our son sent a picture of a chicken enchilada casserole he made just a bit ago.  I cannot explain how much the little blond-haired boy has changed. Where was this chef in 1993?  He loves to cook....this...the boy who only microwaved bologna...oh wait....he could make the best macaroni according to his sister.  By the way, microwaved bologna stinks to high heaven.

9.  My man is sitting across from me scrolling through his tablet;  living his best life.  Therefore, I am living my best life.  Well, that's about all I have to write tonight.  Getting back to writing is much harder than I thought.  When I went to get the laptop I had wonderful things to tell you and a wonderful way of putting them down on the blog, but when I started typing words did not come.  I have read things about writers block for published authors.  That would be so frustrating knowing one had a deadline to complete a book.  

10.  I am grateful that I don't have a deadline.  I am grateful for that apricot fried pie that I am about to split with Johnny and grateful to top it with ice cream.

Everyone, have a wonderful night.  I love you.  Just to let you know, he doesn't want pie and ice cream.  Back in the freezer it goes.......insert sad face......

My View of the World

 I wish the whole world had my view tonight.  There is just something special about sitting outside in the evening.  What if we lived in Chicago or New York or any highly populated area where people are stacked many stories high?   I cannot imagine that.  Do they ever have an evening as I am enjoying tonight?  My imagination runs wild sometimes and I think and wonder about others. especially about those folks living in high rises without a balcony and in deplorable conditions.  Maybe they have a window, maybe not.  How sad it must be.  

Here it is the Labor Day eve we are blessed with a near perfect night.  On this particular night, not one sound do I hear except a leaf blower off in the far distance.  Even the neighbor has put his away for the night.  Now nothing.  SILENCE.  No wind at all which is extremely rare in Oklahoma.   The sound of silence.

We will go inside in a bit, but for now we are going to soak up this blessing a little bit longer unless the mosquitos decide to have dinner on us.

Enjoy your Labor Day and for us retired folks, you will find us on the porch.  

I love you.

Oh wait!   I hear a noise!  The geese just flew over.  Goodnight all.  It's all about the blessings.  

Nostalgia for an Ordinary Life

Many, many evenings have I sat in a lawn chair working on a small project, reading a book, or just chatting away in this very garage just to keep Johnny company.  He often would work into the night fixing up his Corvette, repairing the lawn mower that I somehow always managed to break every time I used it,  changing the oil in one of the vehicles, fixing a small appliance for me......the list could go on forever.  

All of a sudden tonight it hit me that these little times we had and are continuing to have together are more precious than those memories made on a vacation for they are the heart of our marriage.  Sounds strange?  When I look back, of course our vacations were wonderful, but these everyday ordinary days......the days spent in the garage, the days spent in the kitchen, the days of him being on the computer, the nights that I hear him giggle at a silly British comedy, the times he is engrossed in a black and white movie grimacing every time a fight scene would break out (I think he was actually fighting himself), even the hot, long nights in the building....THESE ARE THE MEMORIES I cherish.    

Ordinary pleasant memories.  Vacations come and go, but life is NOW in the ordinary things.  Don't wait.  LIVE a pleasant life and make those ordinary memories.  Find the good in the ordinary day to day life.

I love you.

By the way, the Corvette is still there in the same spot.  The chaos is still there, too, and the garage smell is the same.............love the memories.  Love the NOW.

New Elvis Movie

I can't speak!  Well, I guess I can now.  It has been a little over two hours since I returned from going to the theater to see the new Elvis movie....ALONE.

Have you ever gone to a movie that left you speechless?  Since I was alone, there was no reason for me to chat away, but this affected me to the point of not even wanting to smile.  I never turned on the radio because I was not ready to have my internal, emotional, mental psyche interrupted.  

Johnny asked me about the movie and I muttered something, but headed out to the hot porch to unwind from my thoughts.  After a little bit, the heat drove me in and I popped a can of Sprite.  I told Johnny that if I was a drinking woman, I would have had something stronger.

Then I proceeded to describe to him the feelings I had after seeing this flick, but I was having trouble speaking about it.  The words weren't coming that would adequately describe how much I was affected by an Elvis movie.    Of course all movies are a work of fiction in one way or another.  Let's face it, the bottom line of a movie is money.  So is this movie factual, probably not in all cases, but it left me with a  sad impression that Elvis was highly used and exploited by his manager, and he needed the adoration of all his fans which was a lethal combination.  

Although I have always loved his voice and music, I was never a big fan of Elvis, but something about this movie left me feeling sorry for him.  I wish he didn't have to live that drug filled life to perform on stage and then to live life.

I remember the day he died.  It was the week before Shawna was born and I was setting in the car at a lumber company on I35.  Stunned!  Even though I knew he was not performing well on stage anymore and most of us knew or thought it was because of drugs.  I think most of us assumed that Elvis would live forever.  He was a life force, after all.  But it happened and it stunned the world.  

If there aren't awards in every category for this movie, I will be stunned.  Oh Nancy, I wish you had been alive to see this movie because you would be the first one I would have called.  I could speak to you my friend.

I love you.

When we were in high school, Nancy, Joyce, and I would have Friday night sleepovers and almost every time, there would be an Elvis movie on TV.  In our pjs we pile up to watch his movie and have Fritos and bean dip!!!!  Good times!!!!

It's the Same, but It's Not the Same

It's the same, but it's not the same.

I haven't planted a garden in years and years, but the last couple of years I have been planting a few seeds in a waist-high container....I don't have to stoop.  I do NOT consider myself a gardener so don't ever expect any prize winning vegetables from me.  

BUT, this morning I was able to gather a few lettuce leaves for a salad tonight.  I washed and rinsed a couple of times, dunking my hands in the cool water and swirling the leaves around and I had pleasant memories of doing that during my childhood. 

Mom would gather great big bunches of lettuce to make wilted lettuce from the grease she had collected.  (We had to have a lot of lettuce for the seven of us because when lettuce wilts, it does just that....shrinks into nothing.)  I can tell you that there was nothing better tasting as that salad.  I absolutely love it.  It was our job to rinse the lettuce and rinse we did.  We had to dunk and whirl those lettuce leaves over and over and over again, changing water several times to get the sand off.

As I was rinsing the lettuce this morning, it was the same, BUT it was NOT the same.  I walked into a cool kitchen, almost cold.  Back on Route One, Box 208, Prague, OK, it was HOT.  Hot when we picked it, hot in the kitchen, but that COOL water was everything.  It made the unpleasant task of picking it turn into a great expectation of the delicious wilted lettuce salad that mom was going to make.  I have never been able to make it as good as mom nor have I tasted anybody's else's that was THAT good.

It's the same, but it's not the same.

I love you.

Resourcefulness

Good morning all.

1.  I have never tasted a macaron.  Just sayin'.

2.  I had a strong flashback of my mom pasting lace curtains over board walls, then pasting wallpaper over that.  Johnny asked if it wasn't gauze, but I distinctly remember the lace flower pattern in the curtains.  He said that they used to use gauze over the boards to make them smooth before pasting the wall paper.  

Then we had this whole discussion about the way people used to use things they had on hand to save money.  They used everything UP!  The clothes were passed from one child to the next and if you were in line for your big brother's summer shorts, then that is what you wore even if you were a girl.  The examples of their frugality are endless.

This morning I was on Instagram looking at a woman's bathroom renovation.  To me, her current bathroom is something I am still dreaming about, but to her, I guess it is time to go.  Out with the old, in with the new.  It will be interesting to see her before and after photos; however, I wonder and question about the necessity of throwing the old in the landfill.  For what gain?  

On this beautiful day, I wonder what my mother would think about the resourcefulness of this renovation. Her thoughts would probably run along these lines.  1.  Isn't that (old) bathroom beautiful?  2.  Why?  3.  Is it broken?  4.  Are you going to do it yourself?  5.  Can't you reuse that toilet?  6.  Are you going to give the old fixtures to someone?  7.  How much is that costing?  8.  Again, why?

So, Mom, I have to hand it to you.  You were the queen of resourcefulness.  You are still my inspiration.  

I love you.  

I wonder how different our world would be if we USED IT UP rather than fill our landfills with things we discard just because we no longer like the color.  

   

Paint-by-Number Nostalgia

 Good evening everyone from my bright and sunny sunroom.  So bright I can hardly see what I type.

As the sun in my eyes I am reminded of painting a paint-by-number scene in 2020.  The pandemic was in full force and had us stuck at home, so I ordered the paint kit.  I worked a month on that thing, April 2020.  The light at this time of day, from 6:00 to about 7:00, is ideal to see all the tiny, tiny numbers.  A couple of years has gone by, but the memories are still strong as I sit here tonight.  That painting is by no means a master piece, but as Johnny often tells me, it is about the process rather than the end result.  He asks me questions like:  Did you enjoy picking it out?  Are you having fun?  Are you keeping your mind off other things?  If the answer is yes, then the end result does NOT matter.  

Time has marched on, but we all have the memories.  Thankfully, the strong memories in this room at this time of evening are pleasant.  Not everyone has pleasant memories of that time.  Be thankful, Regina.  Be thankful.

Tonight, I am thankful that my family came through the pandemic relatively unscathed.  

I am thankful that my five senses bring forth such vidid memories.

I love you.   

Ironing

Guess what, I have gone Marie Kondo on my closet.  That is right, everything out!  I haven't discarded much so far, but I have gotten all my summer clothes in the closet and ironed.

Friday, I ironed all day.  All those white blouses are now pressed ready to be worn; however, I cannot bring myself to wear them right now.  I think they must hang in the closet for a while, maybe all summer, just so I can admire my work.  I can look back at those shirts to remind myself that on April Fool's Day I actually worked.  

I love to iron.  I bring the iron and board into the living room and turn the TV on to a classic movie.  I am all set with a tall ice cold glass of tea.  I just love the process of ironing.  I love the monotony, I love the steam in my face, and I love getting the immediate gratification of watching those wrinkles disappear.  

Wrinkles:  That brings me to linen.  I love linen and I have been shopping online for a few things to update my wardrobe.  They will require ironing.  But I have come to the conclusion that I am not a person who could actually pull off wrinkled clothes.  I think it takes a certain person with a level of income to have the right accessories; very expensive jewelry, purses, scarves, and sandals to pull off the "I don't care about wrinkles."  I am not one of those people.  I just don't have the look.  

Fun fact:  I once did some ironing for a lady.  I got $1 a shirt and that was in 1984.  I like ironing, but I won't be ironing for hire anytime soon.

I love you, linen.  Maybe someday................