and lost again........

Thanks be to Big E I found the camera and snapped about fifty pics of two guys heading out on a Mark Twain type of adventure beginning at Hickman, KY. Unfortunately, the camera cable has gone missing so there 'ya go. A message straight from heaven to get out and enjoy the breeze. Only my dumb ass could get lost in Lake County. I had to call both Gigi AND Gumby to get directions out while driving a big ass SUV when normally my ride is a Camry. At some point, they will both swim the big muddy together....the older experienced river guide coaxing on a dreamer with a book in his head.

I managed to make it back in time for our mandatory meeting today and was impressed with the dialogue, if you know what I mean. The cast is beginning to blend well and look toward a goal which is a miracle considering what we've been through. The bottom line is that "when the rubber hits the road" as our boss says, we stick together and get things done. That requires discipline, forgiveness and understanding when spats hair pullin' bitch fights break out within our ranks. There are a whole LOT of men in nursing but not so much in a clinical lab. It's a perfect place for all out drama to bust loose according to who's on their period and whose family member is sick or having babies and such. Everybody's got something and the best way to deal with the whole thing it is to talk it out. Hey. It beats climbing the water tower, right Sue?

^j^

lost and found

Today was church day and daddy went twice while momma chose, instead, to stay in the log cabin and enjoy some quiet time. Lord knows she deserves a break now and then and with the heat and whatnot, it just seemed right to sleep in and avoid the entire thing. We visited after work today and had chapter next of the same conversation that has been in the works for several years now. I feel extremely blessed to still be a part of that dialogue.

This was an unusually quiet day at the sawmill so I got to visit with my friend Sue and chat about life and love. She retired from the clinical lab for several years so that she could pursue her dream of being a successful business owner and partner with her hub at the tea room/antique shop featuring the best blueberry cobbler anywhere on highway 51 north. George died a few years ago and I was totally afraid that I was gonna lose her over that grief. We discussed, at length, the options to lawyer up and sue everybody. In the end, her attorney said that it was a lost cause to take on those particular healthcare providers because it wouldn't bring him back and would prolong the drama. It is what it is and there's a plan. I can see George now up there in heaven chuckling over us at the casino having a wonderful time doing the girl thing.

In other news, it's still hot'n'dry here on the lane. You can bet your sweet ass that I'll be dancing in the rain when it comes. Even the waterhose doesn't help anymore. I thought today about the fun party that I hosted right after my last divorce and shuddered just thinking about the heat up in here with twenty women shopping for sex toys during dog days in MY living room. Those gals were true friends...the kind who show up no matter what or when when they know you need some support.

That being said, I'm headed to BG's room where the window unit is. She'll kick me to the curb when she gets ready to sprawl out but I think I've got a few hours to chill. Found my camera a few minutes ago, just in the nick of time. I missed the sunset, but there's always tomorrow.

^j^

go figure that one

Something is in the air....or maybe it's just the heat + new blood pressure meds, but I'm beginning to wonder about myself. For the second day in a row I have listened to Kiss and I never even liked them first time around. That was back when I was all into the solo careers of Michael McDonald and Steve Winwood. Same thing for AC/DC. I never listened to them until BG introduced me in her teens. Thank the lord for small things.

Faith has some sort of really strange growth on her nipple that will require some minor surgery next week. Oh, and guess what. She's OVERWEIGHT! And has early stage heartworm disease. BG said she felt so bad about it, but when push comes to shove you have to pay the super ginormous month after month utility bill so that said doggy will have a warm or cool place to sleep. Otherwise, everybody sweats and ya'll know how I despise that.

My brother has been bitching at me suggesting for several months that I need a part time job for "fun money." I have to agree I could use a little bit more fun in my life but everybody and their auntie is looking for hours right now. Out of the blue, I got a call from an old friend asking if I could shuttle he and a client on their river trip. Money's decent, and it's a chance to see something outside of Pecan Lane. It's a win-win.

In case anybody wonders, I still believe that the glass is half full.

^j^

live from the desert

I'm through bitching about the heat because it's what's for breakfast lunch and dinner over most of the country. It's August, and this too shall pass. Just be thankful if you're not on the football team or in the marching band at this time of the year. Sometimes it pays to be the literary type, ya know?

Gigi and I were treated to lunch by Mom today and we had wonderful girl time. Later she toured the home where I grew up and fell in love with daddy's UT collection. There's an ENTIRE room of Vols memorabilia, right down the the orange and white comforter. I have a very strong feeling it won't be long until that becomes my room again, thirty five years after I vacated....leaving it to my youngest brother. I was the only one who went to college of the three of us, and both of 'em are better off financially than I am. Go figure that one>!?

We are packing slowly here, going through things slowly and with deliberation deciding what is a memory and what is trash. Sometimes, there is a fine line there. Except for BG's childhood stuff, the attic is empty now after years of yard work. My china is there, which will go with her when she moves. Her favorite kitchen table and chairs are going as well. I grew up surrounded by the history of my family's things, and I want her to do the same. Does that make sense?

Weary doesn't begin to touch this kind of tiredness. Time for a nap, ya'll.

^j^

it's a girl thing

The heifer's wedding has caught up with us so me and the BG did some serious food prep for her shower yesterday in between naps and whatnot. It was nice to see all of her family together in one place, on the same page. Both of the flower girls were in attendance along with their mothers. As long as I've known Heather, which was since way back in the day...I had never met her daddy until he showed up with a dyson vacuum thrown over one shoulder and a grandchild on the other arm. While she opened presents, me and BG and Kimo chatted about the old days when they were wild and free and doing their best to outsmart the older generation by being sneaky. As I recall, there was a visit from the law over that particular adventure. Back then we had no cellphone and the land line rang sometime after midnight with Drew on the other end, asking for BG.

I immediately wondered why she hadn't answered and got up to investigate only to find her bed stuffed with something under the covers that resembled a couple of bodies. Didn't find out until today that they got away with it on Friday night too as they "camped out" around a tent pitched in the yard. Did the same thing myself so who can blame them...ya know? Nothing draws boys with cars out of the woodwork faster than a tent pitched in a teenaged girl's yard. It was fun catching up and remembering that with them. I've got a feeling we'll all know each other REALLY well before this wedding comes off in October.

I've been having withdrawals from Gigi's pool so I stopped by late yesterday just to get wet. They were many margaritas ahead of me so I didn't stay long. I dropped by today after breakfast with the grands to catch up on the state of our sisterhood. Bless her heart, she's having to payback by going to a jewelry party that got booked off of hers. I took Louella out for a stroll so she could pee so I guess we're friends now too.

Daddy called me while we were at the shower yesterday ( where the cops showed up, by the way) to tell me he had left a picture of himself on the front porch for me. He's about 13, sitting up on a fencepost all cocky like, in typical Stafford smartass fashion. I told him that his look in that pic is the whole reason for my smartass side. I was outside smoking when the cop pulled up and I asked if we were in trouble. Seems that SOMEBODY left the back door unlocked and when I went wandering looking for a bathroom I set off the alarm. Only me.

Counting the days until the temp drops to eighty something. Hope you are the same.

^j^

hell freezes over

Ha! We WISH :) I told somebody today that if hell is anything close to what this past week is, I'm gonna turn my life around and be really really good, like the week before Christmas only all the time...even when nobody's looking! The heat of August in the south is something that the old timer's tell tales about back in the day before AC. A lot of 'em worked in the fields and inside factories where there wasn't even a fan. The brother of one of my oldest friends died from heat exhaustion while pouring concrete in it one year. Not to be with messed with for those of us who live in comfy cool houses. The sawmill was so hot that our chemistry analyzers shut down a time or two and I was walking around with wet hair and my scrubs rolled up to my knees. I'm wearing shorts tomorrow....hide and watch.

BG took me on a backroads tour to the place that she and BF have found to call home. I was stunned when we pulled into that shady driveway, marveling at the resemblance between the scenery there and where we live now. There is a front porch swing, old barns and corn fields everywhere and a landlord close by. There is a pond. Faith and I checked out the tiny back porch, constructed of old barn wood like that which has lined our fencerows for decades. It is a very old home, like ours, with all the possibilities that come with that character. What could have been a very tough moment for me turned into a big fat mother daughter hug.

Stopped at the dollar store on the way home to get a new box fan but they were out of the cheap ones so I'll just stick with the one that has no grill. I kid you not.....we had maintenance guys in our ceilings today pulling them off. Not many happy campers in that bunch, if you know what I mean. The one in charge of the whole deal who seems terribly overwhelmed by his job at times, just stood there and took it like a man while my boss let him have it. It was truly a kodak moment.

I hear my babygirl singing to the animals so it's time to bond. Sam is still after Faith so I'll have to break them up first. Keep the faith ^j^

It was a typical monday at the sawmill with the exception of the boss's 55th birthday. Yes...she is soooo much older and wiser than me and a Leo to boot! That goes well with Virgo in the workplace, or anywhere else for that matter. Opposites attract, they say. At the very least they learn to appreciate their different characters and work with it for the common good. As of week one post tick bite, there is a slight rash around my eyes and such but nothing that an antihistamine wouldn't cure. I'll put that on the list for payday along with the electric company and the landlord. Thanks to Gomer we have groceries and Beneful. Sam is currently trying to take advantage of Faith in her last days of heat and the poor dude doesn't even realize he's been snipped. I say have at it....at least there won't be any puppies to show for the whole deal.

We went to the funeral home today, me and my parents. I had that picture tucked in my pocket...the one where me and the older cousins were sitting on the back porch with a bunch of puppies and not a care in the world. We are smack dab in the middle of the dog days and it was stifling just to get in and out of the car on hot asphalt. Family meets in the foyer, kindly greeted by professional door openers who help with an old lady's walker or to visit with folks while they wait in line to pay respects. As soon as Donna showed up, I pulled the picture out and she remembered the day. She grabbed my hand as we headed toward the parlor and the new reality of her sisterless life. There were only the two of them.

Her daddy worked in traffic at the rubber plant following a career that included chief of police here in the 'burg. All this time, I thought that her mama was the oldest of the brood but daddy corrected me as we were heading back to the car, reciting the birth order of he and his siblings. I was the eldest of three like my mother. He was the lone boy in a gaggle of girls and all of their drama. BG and I decided that it was a match made in heaven, with their differences in character enhancing the best of the both of them. It's funny how true love manages to make that happen for people, even the ones who don't believe in it.

I still owe the propane guy and the dentist and the hand surgeon but I'm not worried about it right now. Somehow, I believe that it will all work out according to plan. And it ain't mine.

^j^

turn the page

I have to say that I've never been so extremely happy to see July in the southeastern US go away in my life, but then there's August to deal with. One of my favorite memories is the year that Liz and I borrowed some money, packed our girls up and went to Gulf Shores in August. Vacations were over....kids back in school and we had the place to ourselves. That state owned beachside resort is gone now, victim of a hurricane several years ago. We took BG and her friend Melissa there when they were little. Nice place but very old. I'll never forget me and ex wandering into the Floribama just to see what it was all about, with two little girls in tow. We didn't stay for lunch :)

I have a black and white photo with me for the next few days........a three year old Poopie sittin' on the back steps of the log cabin that was my home. Bubba was three months old, and not in the picture. Probably laid up in there sleeping like a baby. To the left is my cousin Donna and on the right is KA. They've got on shorts and I'm bundled up like the abominable snowman. Each of them has a lap full of puppies and my mama's old wringer washer is in the background. She said when the second kid got born, her daddy bought her a dryer. Mom has preserved all of my childhood memories like they were her own. In many ways, I suppose they are.

There's a breeze today, so I'm headed out to enjoy it.