The Girls

Yesterday, my sister-in-law, my three sisters and I (also known as THE GIRLS), yep that makes 5, of us were chatting away on our texting devices.  What fun!  We could actually talk over one another that way.  True, it was a little hard to follow which made it all the more fun.  Sometimes we'd have to stop and catch one of THE GIRLS up on the conversation, but in the end we had a lot of giggles and smiles that definitely came across the texting "line".  Although we don't see each other on a regular basis anymore, we still have that connection......the family connection.  When we are "connecting" in any form, THE GIRLS are little girls once again.  But as is my fate, I am the "oldest".  Dog gone, that title will never leave me.  I get to be boss though, I get to ride in the front seat. 

And so..............about FOOD.  Bet you didn't see that one coming, huh?  THE GIRLS are great cooks.  I thought it would be fun for me to chose one thing, the first thing that popped in my mind, that ALWAYS reminds me of  each girl -- THE GIRLS.

Sister-in-law - Cherry Cheese Cake bites.

Sister 1 - Sauerkraut and Wieners (Weenies as they are called in our house)

Sister 2 - Green Bean Bundles

Sister 3 - Jalapeno Poppers

Oh, they cook MUCH more than that, but these things always remind me of them.

I love THE GIRLS. 

I love you.

I Think Too Much, Then I Put Myself in a Bad Mood

I think too much, then I put myself in a bad mood.  I cannot take credit for this line, I saw it on Pinterest and it is me!  Sad fact.  It's me.

Today we were driving across town and passed a charter bus.  I looked at the driver and wondered how tired he was.  I wondered how many seniors he had on board traveling to all the exotic places.............like Branson.  I wondered if he was sleepy.

I brought up my concerns to my hubby.  He told me they have rules as to how long they can drive without rest and sleep.  "But what if he goes to that bar and gets drunk while the seniors are at Braum's innocently sucking up on milkshakes and malts (does anyone ever buy a malt anymore?)"  The hubby looked over at me and said, "What if the driver commits suicide and the passengers are stranded?"  I told him I hadn't thought of that.  He replied, "Well you need to put that in your repertoire of worries."  I laughed for two miles.

I think too much, then I put myself in a bad mood.

I love you.

A Lone Man, Dancing Alone

Just a little story, but a true story.  I suppose all of you at one time or another have gone to concerts in the park.  My husband and I used to take advantage of all the free concerts in the area.  You might say we were watching our bucks.  We'd spread out the blanket and I, in my obsessive/compulsive way, would have to make sure every wrinkle was straightened before we could set down, but you know what happened..........wrinkles, as numerous as the lines on my face, spread everywhere once those two little ones got through twisting and turning and jumping.  Once they settled down, we'd have our little picnic before the music started.  Oh what a grand time!

One particular hot night, at Mount St. Mary's High School, we were enjoying a great concert by a band that played swing music.  The music was very nostalgic, but not only that, it was music that must made you want to move.  Across the crowd you'd see little kids twirling and dancing and otherwise making their parents smile.  Every once in a while you'd see a couple reminiscing, holding each other, swaying to the music, love in their eyes.  But the memory I will never forget is the one lone man, under the far away shade tree, the man with a smile on his face dancing alone.  He'd hold his right hand to his waist just as if he were holding his sweetheart, swaying, twirling, and a tiny dip now and again.  With the smile on his face you knew he was more than dancing, more than enjoying the music.  He was loving someone..........  He was remembering.............  His heart was full of wonderful memories.

No, it was not caught on video, no YouTube, no Facebook, just a memory that I recall now and again.  A lone man, dancing all alone, without an audience, enjoying that little slice of life at that very moment. 

Enjoy life!  Right now you are making memories.  I hope they are ones that will make you smile in 30 years.  I love you.

Put Your Makeup On

 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN ANY TASK, PUT YOUR MAKEUP ON

 

Yesterday, my niece posted this as her status on Facebook.  We all had a lot of fun reading it and wondered just exactly what century this was written.  Read, giggle, and then think.

1949--A lifetime ago; I know because I was only a year old.  World War II had ended only 4 years prior.  The boys, the fortunate ones, had returned to start their families.  They had fought the good fight and now it was time for the good life.  The writer above just wanted to help women achieve the good life with a bit of advice on how to make sewing, or any chore for that matter, just a little more pleasant.

CLEAN FIRST--We could make a lot fun of this article, but actually it has some good advice.  I am sure your mouth has dropped to the floor at this point so let me explain.  These days sewing for most of us is a hobby.  I know I enjoy any hobby or project more knowing that when I put it away, I will not be hit in the face with a sink full of dishes or bathrooms that needing scrubbing.  Everyone should get involved so here is a piece of advice.  Before your children say their nighttime prayers, have them and the hubby help you get the house in order so that you can begin your day a bit easier. 

MAKEUP--put it on.  Be ready to go at any moment of the day.  Of course there are going to be days when 'ya just don't wanna', but for the rest of the time, get yourself dressed.  If your friends call you at the last moment, be ready to go without the complete makeover.  You don't have to go around all day in your 'Sunday Go To Meetin' clothes, but be able to throw on a pair of jeans and a top at a moments notice.  You put on your makeup earlier in the day.........so you are 'goods to go' (as Shawna says.)  You never know when I might drop by to take you to lunch and I can always use a good Cinnamon Dolce Latte.  (I'll call first and I won't come in the house.)

I know what you are thinking.  "Are you crazy?  I have kids.  I don't have time to clean the house and putting on makeup is useless."  BUT do you have time to Facebook?  In fact, how many times a day do you check in?  3?  6?  12!!!  How many times a day do you twitter, or Pinterest, or check your email?  How many times do you check some sort of Internet news source?  How many times a day do you check your texts and answer them?  You got time; we all have time.  In fact, we all have the same amount of time.  It is just a matter of priorities.

BUT back to the writer's advice on sewing..............  My sewing skills are, at best, pretty amateurish.  Perhaps I have been sewing lackadaisically and with indifference and no makeup!  I should get my head in the game, my house cleaned so that my mind doesn't wander back to all those household chores that I have left unattended, and geez..............put on makeup!!!!!!!!!!

True story--when Shawna was a little girl, maybe 7, she came home from Sunday School and told me her teacher told her that when she was sick, she'd take a shower, fix her hair, and put on her makeup.  It would make her feel better.  I am here to tell you, that has stayed with her and me all these years.  To this day when either of us is sick or down, we remind each other...put your makeup on.     

I love you!  I struggled with this post tonight. It is hard for me to express exactly how I felt after reading the article.  I guess I was kind of jealous that we no longer live in times as simple as the writer made it seem.  Today our lives are so busy, but it seems everybody, including myself, find time for the Internet.  Sad commentary.  We have been sucked in.............. 

I Am Getting Out of the Dark

Good Morning.  I have been down lately.  Not down as on the floor or sick, but down in the mouth as my mom would describe it.  And with me, the "down" is very visible because I have a face that normally looks "down".....I have a mouth that naturally turns down (as in a sad face).  I have to work hard on  the happy days not to look "down".  I see myself in pictures where I am unaware of the camera and I can see the "sad" face.

There have been a lot of "down" issues with me, my hubby, my family, my friends, my state, and my nation lately.  I won't go into any details, but it seems there are lots of things we are dealing with right now.  I am not sure how to react to any of them, but "down" is probably not the best place to be and if you have ever been "down" then you will agree, it is not a pleasant place. 

This morning, folding clothes in my new sunroom, floor to ceiling doors all around, cool breeze flowing gently, birds chirping, the squirrels hopping from one bird feed to another, it hit me; I am OK.  Everything is going to really be alright.  I am OK.  Maybe I am not perfect, maybe my loved ones are perfect, maybe my friends aren't perfect, maybe I don't get to go on vacation as often as I would like, maybe I need a new washer, but we are going to be OK.

My hubby told me the other week (before the tornado) that he thinks I like to wallow in the low places............the dark side...........  Hmmmm, is he right?  Do I like to keep myself there and wallow in pity?  He sure made me pause and think.  I am sure God does not want me to live in the dark.    There are so many blessings all around me.  I must get up out of the dark and look for them. 

I wasn't sure where I was going with this post when I started typing.  I just knew I had to get it out there.  Retirement age seems to bring lots of issues for some.  It seems there are others who have no issues.  Maybe it is all in how we look at life.  Is my glass half full or half empty?

I pray that I can look at my life as half full.  With that in mind, here I go out to plant more flowers and ever grateful to my Jesus that I am able to do so.  I am getting out of the dark.

I love you.  

Blessings

I want to get back to blogging; therapy for me, but I cannot go forward until I write something about what happened in Oklahoma this week.  Someday I hope my grandchildren will have an opportunity to read my blog and it would be remiss on my part if I haven't shared my feelings about the devastation and then the resulting love.

Monday morning as my hubby and I were making the bed after a fitful night of sleeping or a lack of sleeping, we began discussing what had happened the night before in Carney and Bethel Acres, Oklahoma.  Six tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma Sunday, but both Carney and Bethel Acres were hit especially hard.

The weather forecast for Monday was essentially the same as Sunday; high probability of tornadoes.  As we were pulling up the blankets and fluffing the pillows, tears began to form in my eyes and I knew I was about to loose it.  So many had lost so much.  Had those that lost their homes the night before made their beds Sunday morning with little regard to whether they would have a bed that night, did they wonder if their homes would still be standing at the end of the day?  Would we?  Would we have a bed tonight?  Would we even have a house?  And then the tears dropped.  I don't ever want to take my blessing for granted.  

I dried my eyes and enjoyed my Monday morning, but with thoughts of those that lost everything still heavy on my mind and even heavier on my heart.  Little did we know that just in a few hours the very things we had discussed that morning would be nightmares come true for so many in the next town, the town where my daughter lives, 8 or 10 miles away.  

Boys, your Nana has no idea why this devastation occurred.  I do not have a clue to why you boys were spared, nor why your home is still standing when others lost so much, but I am happy that you are here.  My prayers were answered and I am so proud of your mother who worried whether she was over-reacting when she pulled you out of school.  She took care of you.  Since I don't have the answers and the questions keep getting deeper and deeper, I have to pull back and just trust God.  I never want to take my blessings for granted. 

I love you.

I hope to get back on track tomorrow blogging some fun things.  My thoughts and prayers are with those that lost more than I can fathom.  God bless Moore, Oklahoma, and Shawnee, and Carney, and so many other towns. 
 

REMEMBER

I thought it would be fun just to remember (remember, get it, these are my remembrances). 

REMEMBER:

When gas was 17 cents a gallon?  True, dad took a 50 gallon barrel and filled it up.  It is a wonder we didn't explode on the way home.

When there was a cent key on a keyboard?

When the teacher was allowed to spank in the classroom without any witnesses?  My daughter swears she got a swat the very first day of kindergarten.........I have trouble believing that one.

When we wore white lipstick and thought we were cute, or at least stylish?

When a salesperson would be in the dressing room area to help you if you needed a different size?

The smell of the deodorizer used in the Shawnee Montgomery Ward bathroom?  Some things really made an impression on me.

The fabric sold at Moody's in Shawnee?  Remember Mode-o-Day?

Getting a Frito Chili Pie at the Dairy Boat in Prague for 15 cents?

When cars DIDN'T have seat belts?

When there were only three TV stations in Oklahoma City?  Remember when OETA came on the air and NOBODY watched that station?  Remember when a station would sign off for the night and play a video of "I Touched The Face of God"?

The 80s when the rage was a Swatch Watch?

Wearing white Keds with the little blue rubber label in the back which proved you had the REAL thing?

Wearing big hair with rolled bangs with a velvet bow placed at the part of the bangs?

When Prague had a drive-in?  When Shawnee had a drive-in?  When any town had a drive-in?

Soft-serve Dairy Queen ice cream, all swirly?  And dip cones? 

Gibson's, Trade Mart, Founders Fair, GEX, or AMC?  All before Sam's even thought about a store.  How about TG&Y, Tubbs Drug, Streets, and Anthony's.  Remember all the by-gone restaurants in Midwest City; Lum's, Across The Street, Kip's, The Lion's Share, Furr's Cafeteria, Roses Restaurant (the rolls!!), Zamudio's (ah Zamudio's), Sirloin Stockade.

Yellow lights on everybody's porch?

Not locking a door.....not at night.....not when we left for an hour.....not when we were away a week....never?

Hula Hoops, Slinky, Mr. Potato Head, Clue, Betsy Wetsy, Pet Rocks, Clackers?

Getting dishes in oatmeal?  Getting dishes at the grocery store?  Finding special trinkets in cereal?  Digging arm deep in a new box of cereal to find said cereal?

When there was a time dresses were the norm everywhere you went?  When men wore suits when they were out in the evening even shopping for groceries?

When you ate your first bite of pizza and where the pizza place was and who was with you?

When the only Mexican food you ever heard of was canned tamales?

Thanks guys for indulging me in this little post.  I had fun with it, but I could go on and on and on and rather than that, I will call it a night.

I love you.   

Qualified Outfit

 

 

My little guys were invited to birthday parties this weekend......SIX of them.  Two for Logan and four for Blaine.  Blaine wants to go to the one at 6 p.m. Saturday night because it is Oscar's, the COOLEST boy in school.  Remember when you wanted to go to the coolest kid's party?  Or maybe YOU were the coolest kid.

 

Well, Saturday night we are invited to the coolest boy in school's home for an annual class reunion.  Here's my dilemma, what to wear?  I kid you not when I tell you that I pulled out and tried on every pair of pants, shorts, and capris in my closet.  I also tell you that I tried on at least four tops for each pants, trying desperately to come up with the perfect combination to look cool (as in hip or is it hep), to look skinny (or at least not to look like I am wearing clothes two sizes too small), and to look like I didn't deliberately go out and buy new clothes (gotta look like I wear these type clothes all the time) and I must look timeless............another word for classy.  Since I will be in another state and do not know the weather at 3:00 in the afternoon, I must not wear something that will be too hot or too cool (as in cold). 

 

The real problem is the pants.  The ones I had intended on wearing are too tight.  Still very cute pants, but tight.  I wore them last year to the same event, but with white pants, I could just put a different top and nobody would be the wiser, and they would fit the bill....long enough to be warm should it be a cool day...white if the weather is warm...hip because white jeans are just  cute...white because they are just plain old classy...AND I wore them last year so they will not look NEW.  That leaves only the problem of tight.  Even though these jeans are skinny jeans which are supposed to be snug, (which were snug last year, maybe just a tad too snug) they are not supposed to look like sausage casings.  The good thing...........they now totally encase my cellulite and rather than small little dimples showing I have these huge sausage casings (one for each leg). 

 

The hubby came in to assure me that he will be proud of me in anything, but he did offer the suggestion that maybe the red pants weren't quite as tight.  "Maybe not quite as tight as the others."  He is a dear man and I suspect after I try on all the "qualified" outfits later tonight, he will offer up some cash and tell me to take a trip to Chico's or some other "qualified" store to get the "qualified" outfit.

 

I love you.

 

P.S.  Anybody got a great recipe for me to take to this event.  Gotta make an impression.  Qualifications:  Must travel well, keep cool or at room temperature for a couple of days, and be easy to serve AND IT MUST BE OVER THE TOP, THE MOTHER OF ALL RECIPES.  Reason:  These ladies are from Arkansas and the southern ladies KNOW how to cook.  Just ask Paula Dean or my Mississippi sister.  Ideas???? 

 



The Three Musketeers

Prague High School Prom

1966

Nancy, Joyce, Regina

 

We were stepping out that night, many moons ago. 

None of us had dates even though at the time I

was dating.  Who needs dates for a prom?  Certainly not us.

 

Many years later we had a chance to catch up on old times at the Waterford in OKC. 

We were still just girls, laughing a giggling, flirting with the Monkeys and REO Speed Wagon.

OK, explanation:  Both groups were staying at the Waterford, too.  Nancy got autographs to prove it.

And here we are again, 1996.  This time we are at the very back of the

Opryland Hotel in Nashville, still giggling and laughing.

 

Make new friends,

but keep the old,

one is silver,

and the other gold.

 

Yes, these girls are my cherished golden friends.  These are the girls I shared so much with, both

in those high school years and the years that have followed.  Each of us have our own unique

life experiences and tragedies that we share when we are together.  We still have a lot in

common, but then again, nothing in common.  Forty-seven years have separated us.

Forty-seven years of LIFE and LIFE is an ever changing process!

 

We have gone our separate ways,

but these lovely ladies will

always be a part of my life.

They are part of what makes me, ME. 

THE THREE MUSKETEERS

 

I love you.

 

 

Memories:  In our senior year, Nancy had an old Cadillac--I think it was a 1949, but iffy on that.  For some reason we had that old Cadillac on the football field.  I think we were decorating the goal post, but memory is cloudy on this one.  Some boys came running up to the car and were trying to grab the keys out of the ignition.  Thought:  Maybe they were trying to stop us from driving on the football field...that just came to me.  Anyway back to my story.  I was in the middle of the front seat and tried to prevent them from getting that key so I put my foot up on the dash and when I did, I broke the key off in the ignition.  I remember giggling about that, but really it was a nervous spontaneous giggle because I was worried sick that I would get in trouble from Nancy's dad.  I didn't, so maybe she told them it was the boys.

 

Another time, I believe I was driving with a car load of girls.  That night we saw two hitchhikers at the Ellis courts.  We picked them up and took them out to Centerview and dropped them out.  Now Centerview is a community 3 or 4 miles from town and a good 15 miles to the next other town.  What in the world were we thinking, picking up hitchhikers especially at night????  

We were wild and crazy girls!!!!!!!!  Not really because we had 6 girls in the car when we crammed those boys in.  I guess we thought we could overpower them......again not thinking!!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kisses Mom

My mom, my dad...........sigh.  This brings a lump to my throat for this is exactly how I picture them when I think of them.  This is how they looked before.............before everything that took their health.  This is how I will always remember them. 

Mother's Day and I feel so inadequate for I have none of the qualities of that sweet gentle woman in that picture.  Please do not feel that I am wanting someone to brag on me or make me feel better.  I know that I am a better mother that a lot of mothers, but I am a far cry from the mother that reared me.  What a soft gentle soul she was.  What a kind, quiet person.  What a woman of God.  What an example. 

I see the white hair always coiffed just right, a little on the stiff side.  I see the wrinkles in her face...........the beautiful wrinkles.  I see the light touch of powder and blush on her cheeks.  I see the pinkish red lips so full with smiles.............ready to kiss me right on the lips, something that I will always cherish............that kiss on the lips............just a sweet little peck............my mother's lips. 

No, you won't see any of these in the picture above unless you were one of hers, her children, her in-laws who were always just like her own, her grandchildren, even some of her great grandchildren that are old enough to remember.  No, you won't see, because we see with our memories.  We see the wrinkles, the powder, the blush because we touched them.  We see the lips because we kissed them. 

I love you............forever.  Kisses Mom.