She's Okay.. I Liked Her.

Have you ever wanted to tell someone something?  Have you ever wanted to tell someone that everything turned out okay?  Today I ran into my deceased friend's son and his new bride.

Joyce, she's okay.

So many times over the years my friend (especially after she was diagnosed with breast cancer) would lament about her son and fact that he hadn't married.  "Was he was ever going to find the right girl.  What would she be like?  Would she like her?  Would she be my daughter?  Would she love my son enough?"

Today I met her, Joyce, and I liked her.  No, I don't know anything about her, but she made a great first impression; a little shy, but charmingly so.  I liked her.

As I walked to the car, I told my husband that I just wanted to tell Joyce that everything turned out fine.  No way to do that, but I can write it down.

Maybe we (I) should stop trying to figure out the future, and concentrate on the here and now.  Everything will be okay.

I wish you could have met her, Joyce.  You would be proud.  She's okay.   I liked her.

I love you.

Road Trip

Good afternoon everybody.

Welcome to the Petrified Forest.

Can you say Road Trip?

We just got home from our Grand Canyon trip with Blaine, 13 years old, and what a trip.  I will be writing about it for the next few days.

Today I want to write about days gone by.  Look at the old car above.  Just beyond the car are the telephone lines that ran along Route 66, the ROAD, the mother ROAD.  From Chicago to LA.  We can only imagine what a journey people had making that long, hot trip in most dessert without air conditioning.  The hubby shared with Blaine some about his trip when he was 12, just about the same age as Blaine is now.  In a station wagon without air conditioning there were five adults, two 12 year-olds, and a baby, making their way from the middle of Arkansas to LA.  Coming back they added another adult and another baby.  Would you consider making a trip like that today?  I can answer that!  NO!  He said they planned their timing to cross the desert in the middle of the night.

Times are different these days....air conditioned cars, expensive, repeat, expensive hotel rooms, expensive gas, more expensive food.......or so it seems.........compared to the days when we were first married and taking road trips.

Johnny and I and our kids made a lot of trips over the years.  We saved and saved for these trips and thought they were important for the culture of our children.  We set aside our money each month, scrimping by just to make those trips.  (In fact, it was kind of amusing how I managed our money back then, but worthy of its own blog post so I will save that memory for another time.)

We looked for inexpensive hotels (motels as we knew them back in the day) and often we would find one for less than $30--remember this was in the 70s and 80s.  I'd fry chicken before we left and we'd have a picnic everyday along our route.  When the chicken ran out, we'd grab some luncheon meats and bread.  Those picnics gave the kids a chance to run and burn off a little energy before hitting the road again.  If it was too hot for a picnic at noon, then we'd hit up a restaurant and save our "picnic" for our evening meal (spreading out the tablecloth {oh yes, I packed a tablecloth} on the bed, piling on and enjoying the Olympics or a political convention on TV--they always seemed to be on at the time we were traveling.)

We traveled but on a thin dime, but nonetheless, the trips are etched forever in our memories and hopefully in our children.  Times were simpler back then or so it seems.  Maybe our expectations were less and our wonder greater. 

Take a road trip....they are the greatest............

I love you.



Cheers Everyone

Cheers Everyone.  Happy Tuesday to each and everyone of you out there in cyberland.  Just had my first half cup of coffee and I now have one eye open regardless of the fact that I have been up for over an hour.  Speaking of coffee..........did you see the news last night?  Just one cup of coffee helps you live longer and three cups helps by 18%..............so today I will have three cups, please.  Don't quote me on the statistics.  Go look it up.  Oops, my other eye just opened.


I've been told I don't write in my blog anymore so I am going to try to remedy that so I can go on to become the Pulitzer prize winner that I am destined to be.  (And yes, it can be awarded for online journalism.)


So.........this summer has been a very, very busy one for me and I am enjoying it to the fullest.  Soon I will be on my fourth trip (or vacations as my grandchildren like to call them) in as many weeks.  Been so many places, even the credit card folks are calling.  When will this fun ever end?  Never, I hope. 


One thing I have noticed after these trips is how much better I feel physically.  Seriously.....I can walk better, my aches and pains have subsided, and certainly my mental health is way better.  For a few years I have been giving in to a certain kind of depression (I guess you could call it depression.....not a psychologist).  I could only see the disadvantages of getting older.  I assumed we couldn't do anything or travel because we had these ailments and maladies that come to us all.  Well, guess what?  I am seeing the light. 


I have many blessings that I had NOT been counting.  The ability to travel is one of them so with that, get in the car!


There's a commercial that runs on TV that says "a body in motion, stays in motion".  There's truth in that statement.  So here's to another trip..........Cheers everyone.


I love you and thank you for letting me just chatter away on this blog