Sunday, February 26, 2012

One Day at a Time

For some reason I am drawn to my blog today.  My heart is heavy and I don't know what is going to happen because everything for now is in the future.  Right now I have no control over the situation even though that is exactly what I want to do.  It is in my nature to make things right RIGHT now.  I have little patience, but at this juncture, that is what I have to have.  I want to scream, I want to cry, I want to call the shots.  So with a heavy heart, I have asked Jesus to just take control.  I feel at some ease knowing that He is listening to me even though I might not believe it at a particular moment.  I just have these little snippets of ease - they come and go - but I know that God is on His throne and even though I don't know what is going on or why, He still loves me and my family and my loved ones. 

I pray for peace and health for my loved ones.  I pray for a miracle.  I pray for strength for everyone that is involved.  As strange as it seems, putting my thoughts down helps me.  I am so thankful to God that he is there for us.  I am thankful that He has given me people who love us and that are praying.  God, please bless us all.  One day at a time..........

I love you     

Saturday, February 18, 2012

If Sam's Just Had a Hot Bath

I get stressed.  I get cold.  I start gritting my teeth.  Then I take a bath....a hot bath......and I am not talking about a very warm bath, I am talking HOT.  104 degree HOT.  Lobster red leg red.  You may not believe that number, but my hubby has checked the temperature with a thermometer because he really did NOT believe anyone would deliberately put their bodies in that water.  When he found out that it was 104 degrees, I got the old lecture about how hot water was not good for my body.  It may not be good for my body, but it sure does something to relieve my aches, pains, and stresses, mostly stresses.  So...........daily I get my hot bath....  Something about it just soothes the soul - remember those lyrics? 

This week has been a little stressful...times when I gritted my teeth...times when I was upset.  Then things got a little silly around here as is often the case when we realize how dramatic I am getting.  Then the hubby said something to make me laugh as he always does when I needed it most.

Regina:  "I need a hot bath."

Hubby:  "If Sam's just had a hot bath for you, you'd be in heaven."

Let the laughter begin.  I love you guys.  I love you all.  

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

It's a Good Thing We Don't Have Money

As often is the fashion, our best conversations happen in the car.  Yesterday, heading to our Valentine's destination, the library (don't you laugh - I got to pick out my own book and several at that AND it didn't cost a thing), we started talking about the lottery.  One of these days we be the winner, but our odds will be a lot better if we actually buy a ticket.  Anyway, we were day dreaming about our future winnings.  Would we take it all in one lump sum or would we get the pay out over 40 years?  Well, that one is pretty obvious.  Then we decided that we wouldn't want to move, but would be willing to have a house built over our existing house so we could continue to live right here until finished.  But then we thought of this -- why not just buy a cabin in my favorite place, Red River and live there until the house is finished.  They could send pictures daily and we could make decisions from there.  Yep, that is what we will do.  Dreaming further, we decided we would give every family member hundreds of thousands of dollars even our great nieces and nephews......and I will go one further and give every reader of this post several hundred thousand, too.  Now that beats a mixer or anything Pioneer Woman ever gives away, huh?  And everyone is a winner, not just three or four, but wait, there are only three or four readers.  We would just make everybody happy.  Then we started discussing how we would need to get a financial advisor before we even picked up the check.  You sure couldn't take that check right down to credit union 'cause aren't deposits only insured for $200K?  We chose the instant pay out so that reduced our $300,000,000 (I just love writing all those zeros) to $150,000,000 and the feds are going to take at least one-third so that now leaves us with a measly $100,000,000.  I would want $1,000,000 in cash - yes in cash, yes, in my mattress.  Hubby thinks he would like to just wallow around in the bills and I tend to agree.  That still leaves us $99,000,000 to bank.  Divide that $99M by 200,000 and that is how many banks we will need.  Or we might invest several million in different stocks and bonds, but which ones...we wouldn't want it to decrease in value.  We'd want to have a lawyer, too, to watch the advisor, and then another lawyer to watch the lawyer that watches the advisor and it goes on and on.  Of course, we would need to set up a trust for our children and grandchildren to make sure they are well taken care of.......and we would need to have something set up for our future great children.  Oh the drudgery goes on and on.  It is just too much!  Oh woe is us.  Finally, the hubby laughs and says "It's a good thing we don't have money."  I laughed and agreed.  So here we sit, penniless and happy with only one bank.  Life is so much simpler.  It's a good thing we don't have money.  I love you all.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine Memory

It was 40 years ago today that I got a little more red than I intended and I am not talking roses.  Let me tell you how my day went...........40 years ago today.

As any of my Tinker friends will tell you, besides the money, one of the things we enjoy most about our jobs is the ability to take off at a moment's notice.  It was no exception for me on that beautiful sunny afternoon that I found an excuse to take off.  Some of you have mentioned to me that you don't know how I remember all the stuff I do and in just a moment you will see how easy it was for me to remember that afternoon.

I had this marvelous meal planned, steak, baked potatoes, salad.  My salary in those days was about $8500 per year - and I had a car payment, bills, and rent - although albeit rent was just $85 per month.  I blew out all the stops on this meal as well I should have since my future hubby had been feeding me for the last few weeks, but that is another blog post.  Off to TG&Y to get decorations, remember TG&Y?  What Valentine dinner doesn't include a paper tablecloth with hearts and red napkins, candles and paper hearts?  Then on to Stockton's grocery to get those steaks.  Just in case you are wondering, Stockton's was a grocery store back in the day on the corner of Key Boulevard and 15th where Locke Plumbing Supply is now.

I didn't have a grill, but that was no problem for I could borrow my fiance's.  I could see it from my front window setting right beside his garage (just in case you are wondering again, he lived in the duplex across the street from me).  Can you just visualize this woman pushing that grill across the street?  At least it had two back wheels. 

This is the point where things started to go wrong.  You see I didn't know how to charcoal steaks.  How hard could it be, right?  Darn hard!  Then I found I needed lighter fluid and I had none.  I ran back across the street and sure enough I found some.  Yea!  Ran back across the street.......squirted lighter fluid like no tomorrow.  Threw in matches and got that thing burning like a son of a gun.  As quickly as the thing lit, it went out.  How was I to know that it was suppose to do that?  I mentioned I had never charcoaled before, didn't I?  Well, I had to get that thing on fire again or my steaks would never get done by the time he got home.  So here is what I did......wait for it.........yep, I put more lighter fluid in........and I lit it again.......and it flared up again just like before, but now I knew.......it was going to go out again........SO..........I had this great idea that I needed to squirt more fluid in AS it was flaming.  WRONG - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!  It flared back on me and no I was not on fire, but I knew I had done wrong when the flame caught that stream of fluid on fire.  Thinking quickly, I threw the can away and raised up.  Now you are going to ask me why I needed to raise up, aren't you?  OKAY, 40 years later I can tell this story.  I did a very, very stupid thing that day.  I set that grill up right below my dining room window next to the house.  And not only was the grill under the window, it was under the air conditioning unit that was in that said window.  Somehow, backing away from the grill I hit my head on the corner of the air conditioner.  Whew, I almost saw stars, but I was still alive, the charcoal was starting to glow again nicely, AND the house had not caught fire.

Future hubby came over after work and complimented me on my amazing table setting and the wonderful food.  Of course, I had to tell him of my plight with the grill.  I reached up to show him my head and that is when he noticed it was bleeding.  Nothing do but him to run back over to his place and get the Mercurochrome.   Again, this is something of which I had no experience, but I could imagine how much pain I would be in once that stuff reached my open wound.  I begged him....OKAY I ran from him...not to put that stuff on me.  I did NOT win and he poured that red stuff on my head.  Believe it or not, it did not hurt. 

Well friends and family, I am here to tell you that he married me after all, but not before he gave me the old Tinker safety briefing that very night.  In fact, he was pretty adamant about how I should not put the grill next to the house, under the window air conditioner, and not to squirt lighter fluid on a fire.  I still got a 5 pound heart shaped box of chocolates -- the biggest box I have ever seen -- even to this day. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  I love you!  And that is how I remember what a beautiful day it was--grilling weather.  And in case you doubt the truth of this post, I can show you the scar in my scalp. 

 

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Let It Go, Louie

Have you ever been reading a book when a line just grab your attention.  Hubby especially has various lines from books that he quotes, and quotes them at the appropriate time.  How cool is that?!  How he remembers them is beyond me, but when I read a paragraph from "Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'Easter by Lisa Patton I was stopped in my tracks.  Quoting, ...................... "The letdown in my gut, that extreme feeling of disappointment, told me I should probably put my mind on something else.  It was the kind of thing you had to flat forget about, or you might lose your mind."

Have you ever had something that was haunting you so badly that you had to put it out of your mind or you would lose it?  Over the last 60mmmmmmm years, there have been many, many moments....moments of silly embarrassment that haunt me if I think about them.  Then there are the moments when I acted inappropriately, moments where others had wronged me, moments when someone has wronged my family, moments when I opened my mouth when I should have kept it shut, moments when I left something unsaid when I should have spoken up.  Things that forever will haunt me if I think about them.

I read the lines from the book several times and even quoted them to my hubby.  They just seemed to fit what I had been feeling just that very day.  Sometimes we hurt so badly, we can't tell anyone about it, we can't even think about it.  God has already forgotten about them and so should I.  As my sister says to me, "Let it go, Louie".

I love you guys on this bitterly cold and to get colder day.       













   

Friday, February 10, 2012

64 Years

Today would have been my mom and dad's 64th wedding anniversary.  Here are 64 things in no particular order that remind me of them along with 37 direct descendants and their spouses.  I sure hope I haven't left anyone out.       

1.  Regina
2.  Robert
3.  Kay
4.  Brenda
5.  Rhonda
6.  Johnny
7.  Teresa
8.  Bill
9.  Chuck
10.  John
11.  Steven
12.  Shawna
13.  Amy
14.  Grant
15.  Christy
16.  Kimberly
17.  Jamie
18.  Tara
19.  Ryan
20.  Angie
21.  Scott
22.  Julie
23.  Bryan
24.  Zaac
25.  Jason
26.  Blaine
27.  Logan
28.  Sydney
29.  Emily
30.  Andrew
31.  Savanah
32.  Jack
33.  Abby
34.  Benjamin
35.  Kielyn
36.  Christa
37.  Victor
38.  Panama trip
39.  Lost wedding ring
40.  Found wedding ring after Mom's death......so sorry about that one
41.  Vacations with every one of their adult kids
42.  Hamburger King's
43.  Christmas Lights
44.  Pleasant Home Baptist Church
45.  Corn
46.  Dad couldn't/wouldn't do much without mom especially outside
47.  Home made ice cream.  Have you ever had ice cream made in a can with a hole?
48.  Camping
49.  Taking us kids out to eat and never letting us pay
50.  The couch, dad asleep on one end and mom asleep on the other
51.  Peanuts, Sylvania, and Tinker
52.  Dining room table - remember dad saying the conversation ended when we left the table?
53.  Cows
54.  Misdiagnosis of brain tumor....wow!
55.  Frogs
56.  Farm
57.  Autumn
58.  Did ya' count 'em?
59.  Land blowing
60.  Love
61.  Faith
62.  Singing - Remember dad banging out chords on the piano to wake us up?
63.  Patriotic
64.  Grandchildren

Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad.  I love you!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Home

We spent the day visiting various Oklahoma City antique stores; several of them in old homes converted to businesses.  I find these old homes terribly fascinating.  You can see the bones of the house, painted shelves with 25 layers of paint, 75 year old sinks still attached to ancient plumbing, windows sealed shut with those 25 layers of paint, kitchens smaller than a lot of closets today.  It makes you wonder just who lived there, were they happy, did children bounce of those walls in those small rooms, what did they hide in all those little closets and cubby holes, were the rooms as cold then as they were today? 

As it happened there was a small old framed poem hanging on a wall written by Edgar Guest called Home.  I was enthralled with it and thought I would share it with you.  Read the words carefully as they are indeed what makes a house a home.

Love you guys.  See you tomorrow with 64 things about my parents.  More about that tomorrow.

Home

It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,
A heap o' sun an' shadder, an' ye sometimes have t' roam
Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef' behind,
An' hunger fer 'em somehow, with 'em allus on yer mind.
It don't make any differunce how rich ye get t' be,
How much yer chairs an' tables cost, how great yer luxury;
I ain't home t' ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped round everything.

Home ain't a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it's home there's got t' be a heap o' livin' in it;
Within the walls there's got t' be some babies born, and then
Right there ye've got t' bring 'em up t' women good, an' men;
And gradjerly, as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn't part
With anything they ever used -- they've grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an' if ye could ye'd keep the thumb marks on the door.

Ye've got t' weep t' make it home, ye've got t' sit an' sigh
An' watch beside a loved one's bed, an' know that Death is nigh;
An' in the stillness o' the night t' see Death's angel come,
An' close the eyes o' her that smiled,
an' leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart,
an' when yer tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an' sanctified;
An' tuggin' at ye always are the pleasant memories
O' her that was an' is no more -- ye can't escape from these.

Ye've got t' sing an' dance fer years, ye've got t' romp an' play,
An' learn t' love the things ye have by usin' 'em each day;
Even the roses 'round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin' someone dear
Who used t' love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em jes' t' run
The way they do, so's they would get the early mornin' sun;
Ye've got t' love each brick an' stone from cellar up t' dome:
It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home.

--Edgar Guest

Note:  Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881, Birmingham, England – August 5, 1959, Detroit, Michigan) (aka Eddie Guest) was a prolific English-born American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century and became known as the People's Poet.


In 1891, Guest came with his family to the United States from England. After he began at the Detroit Free Press as a copy boy and then a reporter, his first poem appeared December 11, 1898. He became a naturalized citizen in 1902. For 40 years, Guest was widely read throughout North America, and his sentimental, optimistic poems were in the same vein as the light verse of Nick Kenny, who wrote syndicated columns during the same decades.


From his first published work in the Detroit Free Press until his death in 1959, Guest penned some 11,000 poems which were syndicated in some 300 newspapers and collected in more than 20 books, including A Heap o' Livin' (1916) and Just Folks (1917). Guest was made Poet Laureate of Michigan, the only poet to have been awarded the title.


His popularity led to a weekly Detroit radio show which he hosted from 1931 until 1942, followed by a 1951 NBC television series, A Guest in Your Home.

When Guest died in 1959, he was buried in Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Blogging

Good morning everybody.  For the last several weeks I have struggled with this blog.  I have written many post, but they remain unpublished.  I ready myself to push the "publish" button, then I reread the post.  And I stop and I close the computer.  You see I have been looking at all the other blogs on the internet and the disappointment in myself begins.  There are so many wonderful blogs written as if they were published in a magazine; beautiful stories, beautiful photos.  They intimidate me....so much so that I feel very inadequate in every aspect of my life especially my writing ability.  But I am trying to put it all in perspective; these bloggers are young, beautiful, college educated--probability have a degree in journalism AND interior design, and most talented women.  They seem to be stay-at-home moms or moms with so much energy that they can juggle full time work outside the home, feed their families wonderful home cooked meals from the vegetables from their gardens...and take step by step pics, make drapes for their homes...and take step by step pics, and decorate their homes as if they were from the pages of Southern Living magazine...and take step by step pics.  Some of them are even home schoolers, but that is a whole other blog just waiting for me to write about.  By the way, whether stay at home moms or working outside the home, their homes are amazing both in their decorating and cleanliness.      
So...... please bear (I looked that up) with me as I sort through my thoughts of inadequacy.  I am going to reread some of my earlier posts and try to get inspired once again.  I just love to write and whether anybody in the world reads anything that I ever write, makes no matter.  I am doing this for myself.  My little hobby.  I bet those other bloggers are jacked up on Mountain Dew (another blogging post I will have to remember to write about).

Wish me luck with the blogging and with what I am about to do....get my hair cut!  I love you world.   

Friday, February 3, 2012

Thundering

Here I set, right in front of my front room windows, listening to it thunder.  It hasn't thundered like this in such a long time.  I am so happy.  Never did I think that rain could make me so happy.  It reminds me of the many times my daddy would be on the front porch, one hand outstretched to the wrought-iron post...just watching the rain and the mist it made hitting the hot earth...just listening to it thunder. 

All this sweet delicious rain reminds me of the first year we moved to this house.  Hubby was gone on TDY and Mrs. Tucker had come to stay with me, to keep me company and help with my little ones.  It stormed!  Oh, how it stormed on the very first night he was gone.  I was alone.  Well, not alone, but I was the one responsible in my new house with my little babies, 4 and 1 years old.  Mrs Tucker was there sure, but I would have to be one to decide whether to hide under the bed with everyone huddled around me like a mother hen and her chicks.  It thundered like I have never heard.  I don't remember so much of the lightening, just the thunder.  It was so foreboding that I got up and it wasn't but a moment till Mrs. Tucker got up, too.  Surprisingly, the kids slept right through it.  Had Mrs. Tucker not gotten up, I would have thought I was just silly to be so scared.  Having her awake with me was both comforting and scary.  I knew that if she was concerned, her being in her seventies and very wise, then we surely were in a bad situation.  She even told me it was the loudest thunder she had ever heard.  We both wondered if it might be so loud due to the trees around us....maybe echoing.  But......as it has now..........the thunder let up...........all was well.........back to bed.  And a wonderful night was had by all.

Hubby recently asked me if I remembered when rain was a common occurrence and not an event.  Getting this rain has definitely lifted my spirits.  It is definitely a blessing and I can sure use some blessings.  And maybe a nap..........

I love you all.         

Autumn

Cherri

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