confessions of a very bad facebook friend

Alas...my page is papered with ten zillion requests and I just pass them by, essentially ignoring those who pinged me. Sorry..I'm lazy like that when it comes to the keyboard. After using one all day at work, it's about all I can do to keep the blog up every day or two. I do post pics there and it's a great way to keep up with your peeps when there's big news to share.

When I stopped at the gas station beer store on the way home I ran into a dear old friend who just lost his job with one of the aforementioned do-it-cheaper-in-China companies. Thirty.four.years. He and thousands of others like him are casualties of the tendency in corporate America to see middle aged folks who have tons of experience as debits rather than assets. Sometimes that flies in the face of good business sense.

Just got off the phone with a guy who spent several hours on the interstate outrunning our nasty Tennessee weather today. It was hit and miss from one end of our long skinny state to the other with thunderstorms and tornados galore. Typical spring in the midsouth region.

I'm not sure but I think lightning hit the Easter bunny when he was on his way out to eat some asparagus. Film at eleven.

^j^

happy feet

It's foot washin' night for this particular holy week in the year of our Lord 2009. For those of us who like rituals, it's a remembrance of how the man demonstrated ultimate love for his believers and followers, the big twelve plus a couple of girls who were probably along for the ride. As the story goes there was a last supper and some wine and then he washed their feet in preparation for the next day's adventure becuase..hey. He knew what was coming and it didn't look like much fun what with all the nails and the blood and stuff.


That's my sugardaddy, the one who carried his cross all the way up the hill to be whipped and poked and laughed at. We all do that, ya know. Each and every day there is an option to pay attention to detail and flip over the tax tables in a fit of rage and/or help to heal a soul in need. Most of what I've seen as the american way of life lately doesn't work well with that draft. Most everybody, besides the ones who are starving to death, are worried about losing their jobs with big ginormous corporations who have homies in China.

Is it just me, or should somebody have been watching out for us little people and not the almighty dollar? I know...it's too much to ask of a government. Let's go invade a country or spy on people within our own borders. Contractors like that sort of action when Congress is paying the bill. So does wall street, which is kinda sorta the same thing.

Yep...I'm in a mood. Again.

^j^

instant everything

It just dawned on me while entering my brother's new cellphone number into MY phone that just a few years ago I didn't even have one. And now? I can't tell you anybody's number without checking it. To many it's a toy, and one that I've not yet learned to embrace, nor do I want to. If you need to reach me, call that number because it's always in my pocket. Otherwise, call the house. I don't take pictures with it or play songs or text friends. I simply talk. How very country girlish of me!

My TV viewing has trickled down to "whatever's on when I'm in the mood" which isn't very often unless I stay up late enough to watch Letterman or Leno or SNL. Contrast that with my father's viewing schedule which is from sunup to bedtime all courtesy of the wonders of DVR. His favs are Gunsmoke, Bonanza and NCIS. My younger brother and his wife were both TV news reporters years ago and I learned pretty quickly about the industry and that "if it bleeds it leads." Have you ever noticed how they all do that little nod when the camera turns on them? Watch. You'll die laughing.

Activities of daily living are things that social workers can use to measure what the needs of a particular person might be. Ability to drive, bathe, feed oneself etc. are all things that are considered when doing a care plan for an individual. So many people say that the loss of the ability to get in the car and GO when you want to without catching a ride is one of the saddest things about being an older person and I believe it after watching both of my parents give it up. While it means a few more trips here and there for me in the trusty old Camry, to them it means being dependent on others for their care. Fortunately, they have plenty of friends and family who want to help them. If you find yourself "too busy" to cultivate true friendships, that might be something to consider. I certainly have and it's an eye-opener.

Hillary's "it takes a village" speech was one that got quoted for years and I still think about it, only in a more global way. In a sense, everyone in your little corner of the world is your village and it's not always the children that need raising. Could be your next door neighbor's barn or the cleaning lady's heavy load of garbage.

I have known so many manipulative people in my life that I could build a bridge from here to China with their bodies linked hand to foot. Once I see that in a person, he or she becomes a big fat zero and most of the time they never even know it. I just carry on as if, free from the game. Too bad I didn't learn that at a younger age. I could have saved myself a lot of pain and misery.

My Daddy always told me that one should pray "in the closet" meaning not to make a big show out of it because that's what Jesus did. Mostly he went off alone and pondered how bad things were, searching for answers to some mighty grim predicaments.
While the Gospels disagree on a lot of their stories, that's one that pretty much comes through loud and clear. You won't see me parading into the church every time the doors open...rarely even on Christmas or Easter. After being raised there, and raising my daughter there I feel like it's time to walk the walk that we talked.

Ya'll have a very holy week.

^j^

all my rowdy friends

It's been a nice quiet weekend around here and that's how we love it. Yesterday was about as close to paradise as it gets taking Tennessee's fickle weather into consideration. BG went to visit her Dad, so I hit the front porch after capturing the gremlins in my mother's computer. They come out at night, you know. Anna and I swang and sipped and talked about life and love, the future and old times. I destroyed about ten wasps in a row with my long reaching spray *heh*..hate 'em.

One of our subjects was about how many people don't seem to realize not to sweat the small stuff but concentrate on the blessings. I guess it takes some steps in someone else's shoes to drive the point home, and she did just that. Her young son is vision impaired due to a traumatic delivery but otherwise is happy healthy and normal. I shared with her the stories of my other friend who has a child who has grown to be an adult battling mitochondrial disease and all that is involved. She was stunned at the simplicity of her own life after hearing about theirs.

Remember my special needs kitty Circle K? She's much better but still doesn't drink much so every day or so I force the water down her. She wasn't feeling particularly thirsty I guess because she bit the SHIT out of my finger. My mother is scared I'm gonna get rabies. I informed her that if I did she could say "I told you so." Peroxide is cheap and works just fine.

We are settling into a flexible routine as an extended family unit and that is a relief in more ways than one. For my parents, it is security. For us, it's an opporunity to spend more quality time with them rather than responding to the fire call when something happened. And I get free breakfast at Perkins :)

We are hoping that the freeze line stays north of here because everything is in full bloom. Daddy's tree even has little peaches on it! On warm days my asparagus shoots up in a few hours begging to be picked and put into some olive oil. I've gotta hand it to my ex....he worked his butt off digging that bed some ten years ago.

Ya'll have a marvelous Monday and all. Don't forget the easter bunny's watching^j^

god bless texas

off line

We have mysterious phone and internet gremlins running around the house. Soooooooo...I'll be away from the blog for a few days until they get us up and running again. Ya'll be good while I'm out. Don't kick the cat and be nice to your sister. Because I said so, that's why.

^j^

faith in action

Some of ya'll don't know about how I ended up here on Pecan Lane some 53..just shy of 54 years. It all started when my grandfather was a real estate man who managed farm properties. One of those was the place known as Ferguson Farm, once a thriving neighborhood filled with schools and houses and family drama. The property was originally purchased in the early nineteen hundreds by a man from Michigan who had family ties here. Flush with money from the sale to our government of raingear for soldiers, the family claimed it as home.

Daddy came to be the farm manager when my grandpa died at the young age of 45 from heart disease. He had built quite a portfolio of farm businesses along with his full service station at the corner of Main and McGaughey. The Silver Castle sat snugly next door, the afternoon host for hundreds of school kids after they got cut loose. In the words of someone like Andy Rooney..."It was a kinder and gentler time." People knew the meaning of patience and faith and hard work for something that is valuable in a way that many have never experienced. I was one of those hoodlums who went barefoot and wore tie-dye saying to hell with that sweet kind generation. I'm glad to have experienced both.

My young parents moved out here to look after things and fifty two years later we're still kicking as a family unit. A very important phone call was received today and I feel much better about things. It's pretty hard sitting around waitin' for the other shoe to drop.

But, ya know? Sometimes that's all it takes.

^j^