will work for insurance

That's what most of us are doing truth be told.  Early retirement is 62 and there's not a whole lot of money difference as you get older.  You just can't get the healthcare piece until age 65.  You can also earn about 17K per year while drawing SS.  That's because nobody can afford to live on it!!  I started drawing my pension from Methodist at 55 because I need it.  It's a lifetime annuity and I gave up 400 a month to draw it early but who the hell knows if I'll be here at 65?  I mean seriously.  

The red winged blackbird that perches on the baby pecan tree outside the bathroom window has become my constant totem representing change and moving forward without fear.  Going with the flow, so to speak.  I am so down for that.  

Speaking of which, I have the total solution for healthcare reform right here in my pointy little head.  All the GOP folks are hollering more power to the states so I say hand it over to them to develop a single payer system for their citizens.  Healthcare is the biggest industry in our state so surely we can put paper to pencil on that one and figure something out.  Of course that would cut the bottom line for the for-profits and big pharm.  Do I care?  Not a bit.  

It's a beautiful day in the hood.  Y'all go plant something ~

reaching out

That's another one of those politcally correct terms that gets wayyyy overused in the corporate world and gets on my nerves.  That being said I "reached out" to the governor and both senators of the State of Tennessee regarding the ACA repeal.  As this is a hot topic presently, both senators had generic emails waiting with which to reply with Corker's sounding a whole lot friendlier than Lamar's.  No word from Haslam yet but it is the weekend.  

My newest addiction is 13 Reasons Why.  It is masterfully crafted in a way that you never know which twist will take you on that turn.  Who among us has not asked "why" in the face of tragedy whe the truth is that the reasons are usually multiple.  I can sense the frustration not just of the teenagers but of the parents and teachers attempting to do their part to "fix" things.  When things get too heavy I just jump back into Grace and Frankie.

All is well here.  The little alien baby who shall be named Reaves is doing well and so is her mama.  We will share this Mother's day in some form or fashion even if by phone or card.  Heather and Joe are in town with AJ so I'm excited about meeting him too!

The sex count for lab grandbabies now stands at 2 and 2 all stairstepped to be born beginning in August.  Talk about some picture swapping!  

This is the day that the Lord has made ~

baby face

I got to meet my in-utero granddaughter today during Lauren's ultrasound.  She was quite active and moving hands and feet every which a way even at 9 ounces.  According to the doc and ultrasound lady everything was perfectly on track for where she is in the pregnancy.  After that we grubbed out at Rafferty's and I remembered how much I  miss eating there back when I had money.  Not that I had it today but by golly it was a celebration of Reaves girls and we had leftovers so there you go.  

It was storming in Jackson when I got up and cleared out of Dyersburg just as I was leaving.  The wind is pretty high so I fought with that all the way back on 412.  Turned out to be a gorgeous day though a bit nippy.  Sometime when I was occupied, Mamye left a message...in tears.  She is heading to the vet clinic right now to have her old friend Tipper put down.  She's down to just two cats and both are elders.  I feel her pain just like she felt mine.  

The circle of life....ain't it amazing ?

a different wakeup

I dreamed heavily this morning and fought to come out of the fog of sleep at 830ish.  This old girl was tired.  I wandered to Sonic for breakfast and hit up the shady 'gentral before heading to the Lannom Center to help my friend set up.  I carried books and pictures and she hauled that table in like a warrior woman.  I then began my treatment which was sheer joy.  One woman who was scoping things out came by and asked "is she okay?" because I was laid out real still.  She and another guy made plans to come back by.  While I was there on the table Yaya came in with her stuff from Hexpol so we got to visit as well.  Score on the ink pen and tiny tape measure.

It makes me kind of proud to see so many businesses, many of them small and thriving in our area.  An expo like this is the perfect way to showcase what's good and up and coming in the community.  I watched one woman assemble this huge sign thing from metal parts that she carried in a bag.  Amazing. Abby and Cindy from French's were there delivering sweets to yet another booth.  Y'all run on out there. It's from 2-7.

Guess what? It's raining again.  

MFR tip of the day

My friend Gay is a myofascial release therapist who was trained by the physical therapist who invented the technique, John Barnes and she has traveled the world to do so.  Tomorrow at the Lannom Center the chamber of commerce will be hosting a small business expo.  Gay will be there giving samples of what she does best and will most certainly have her table up front and center.  The treatment consists of stretching the fascia that surrounds the whole body like a web.  When there is injury from trauma, repetitive motion or plain old stress the fascia contracts and causes pain, sometimes at a totally different site.  Five minute positional holds plus some arm pulling and a side of psoas and you're in business.  Insurance doesn't pay for this because as we know they're not about wellness.  So uh...what's up with all those PT clinics??  Y'all go see what the whole thing is about.  Tomorrow from 2-7.  I'm sure there will be a lot of cute jewelry too plus the fabulous folks from The Mill Workspace.  Maybe I can pick up a new ink pen or two ;) 

I ran into Sophie's daddy's keeper at work and he offered his condolences for our loss.  Only animal lovers truly get that pain.  They are so loyal and compassionate.  He has Maggie and Chester, father and daughter and his son has a black lab and golden retriever named Reece.  How perfect for that family.

Honor thy father and thy mother ^j^

dream on

I had barely gotten in the door at work today when Yaya called and told me about her dreams in very vivid detail.  Her voice cracked as she described she and Gaga going to a wedding and her doing the honors of escorting that exceptional old woman.  She said they laughed and hugged and squeezed and it was glorious.  Next was her friend Judy and then they all ended up at Miss Ann's house for some odd reason.  Out there at Lakewood where they have to die for oak leaf hydrangeas.  I'm trying not to cry early in the day because you feel like crap but that almost got me.  All I could do was say thanks for sharing that with me.  She and her family are like my own.  

I ran into another old friend at the chicken store and we talked photography a bit.  That was after a snack stop at the 'gentral.  I seriously avoid Lake Rd and 51 if I can.  Which is, of course, where Kroger is.  And everything other food joint you can think of.  I did business with the lovely ATT lady in a cubicle shared by Domino's.  Little storefronts.  

The day Van Hinson lost The Plaza that was the end of my convenient eating.  His meats were to die for and he had all the other staples including brooms and beer.  He and Kenny were always around to hand cut.  He gave credit to tons of folks like me and at the time of the flood I was paid in full.  Shady Kroger shut down before that.  Food desert!

Here's a business idea for any of you who might own a property that could be used for a small grocery store on Highway 51 South....it would be used like heck especially if it has a fresh and organic section.  It can't be in Southtown proper because that still floods.  The big one even took over all the way past Clark Distributing.  That was a headwater that began with 11 inches in Nashvegas.

For the life of me I can't remember the name of that little corner of Lauderdale where the Forked Deer and Obion merge into the Big Muddy.  I used to go riding out that way all the time learning the backroads with my buddy.  I remember standing on a hill at highway 88 and thinking "there goes Chisholm".  We watched people in boats out exploring.  Kind of like a redneck Waterworld.  

I have always known that the father of the man my Daddy worked for drowned while crossing a frozen Reelfoot Lake in 1918.  My brother told me that his buddy remembers his grandma telling tales about HER folks finding and recovering his body.  I'm intrigued, to say the least.

Stay tuned for for more chatter ~

i give

I don't know what it is in me that thinks I can make a difference in the whole scheme of things.  I've always been that way...if I believe in something strongly I hang on like a dog with a bone.  That's just another way that I punish myself by thinking that I have any control over ANYTHING.  My friend Sondra scooped me up at Patterson Brothers this morning for work and dropped me off where they had put on new tires and fixed the door handle inside and out with the parts I bought from the salvage yard.  It's been years since I've had an outside handle.  What a luxury!  Not to mention the fact that I can also open from the inside and not crawl out the passenger side.  God is good....all the time.

When I look at how appreciative folks can be for small miracles and then hear the back biting and complaining that is the rest of the world I just shake my head.  All things are relative when it comes to being grateful.  If you're rich with money, having more does nothing much but feed the greed.  When you don't have enough, life is a struggle.  I'm smack in the middle where I live check to check as a single woman.  I always have something to eat.  I have a job.  That's more than what a lot of folks can say.  

I think that having a vocation where you are appreciated and valued is a big plus in the happiness department.  I've had it both ways in my career and have survived thus far.  Somebody asked me today when I'm gonna' "give it up."  I just gave her a wan smile and said "I can't".  But maybe....just maybe.  

I think I can ~