when you need a bigger boat

I've been all inviting fifty years worth of hospital people to my deck which holds about fifty max.  I decided today to explore other options with more places to sit.  And wander!  My friend agreed to do it so there ya' go.  Reunion relocated to Lakewood Pavilion.  June 4th at 1ish.  In case of rain, we understand if you don't show up.  2Js construction and it is to die for beautiful.  

Tomorrow is girls' day and the weather looks great for playing outside.  I have some flowers for us to plant if she is so inclined.  That girl is always ready to dig in the dirt.  She is totally amazed in a four year old way when that stuff comes back and thrives.  I can just see us picking off those big old ugly 'mater worms this summer.  Note to self:  Sevin.  It also works on dogs.  

Y'all be faithful and happy.  That's my daily goal and so far God has worked it out for me.  He's good like that ^j^

 

april fool

Why yes indeed, I heard reports of sleet today in our area today.  I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn for a doctor's appointment and there's a scan scheduled to see if there's anything sinister looking.  It's the first time on this journey that anybody has done anything other than draw blood and collect urine.  Inquiring  minds want to know.  We went to visit a friend in rehab today and they were all swapping tales about the old days.  I heard a familiar voice on the other side of the curtain and recognized it immediately as one of my former co-workers.  He got pulled into the huddle as well!  Everybody's invited to that reunion that EVER worked there or with us.  Okay, we may need to rent a building!

I had to eat a big old unhealthy breakfast at Coby Joe's and it's still sticking with me.  I'm just not used to that at all.  I'm a mini meal kind of person.  I guess it's better for your blood sugar.  Today's skies remind me of what it must have been that day when Jesus died.  There are already purple flags flying with the famous flowering cross only a week away.  It's a great tradition that brings the congregation together.  It will also be Dakota's last Sunday.  Don't even get me started on the tears that are coming.  Probably a lot of the ugly cry, for me anyway.  This man ministered to me when I was fresh out of the near death surgery and anointed me with holy oil.  UCMTSU.  In the nursing home!  Mary Beth also got called in to calm me down when I threatened to leave on the first day.   My entire family was in on that one.  

So I spent 10 days with a most unlikely roommate named Sara.  We had been friends back in the day and I remembered that she suffered a stroke in her fifties.  Actually she was Lauren's friend first and we got introduced.  She was an almost complete vegetable dependent on life support for every bodily function.  There was even an oxygen concentrator that was noisy as hell.  I got used to the sound of slamming doors as the meds got counted.  My PT experience was great and I credit them with getting me well enough to get outta' there.  The nurses I made friends with all understood where I was at.  Angels come in all forms.  My friends Chucky and Vicki and Misti brought me real food and did my hair for the first time in ummm 3 weeks. I was still carrying a wound vac then but that didn't stop us  That was the best headwashing and turkey'n'dressing I ever had.   Yaya brought pimento cheese which had no place to live except in a tub of ice by my bed.  Damn, I wish I had some now!  i haven't near covered them all but I know without a doubt I would have fallen through the cracks were it not for my friends and family to advocate and keep me sane.

We got an official invite to a family Easter egg hunt in Ridgely and I so hope that happens.  We have a whole lot of schedules to juggle.  I feel totally blessed that Lauren's job allows weekend opportunities with Gaga.  Even if we're all on our devices, we're together.  Keep the faith ^j^

all vaxxed up and nowhere to go

I was out and about today so I stopped by the pharmacy and my 2nd booster.  My arm is sore and I feel like I've had an injection.  No biggie for me. 

Kelly is on a boy band run on her show and I'm loving it.  I had forgotten all about them and they're grown up and still kicking it!  That's mine and Joy's special time together.  We do so love us some Kellyoke and that keyboard dude.  We have also begun to like the cooking ladies.  Gotta' have something to do when it's cold out!  We read together in silence, my book and hers.  And we give Pearl all the loving she wants.  This little gal knows to expect me and we always play on the bed.  Pearl actually talks to me.  I learned on the innerwebs that those puppy dog eyes were bred in wolves by people who began to see them as pets.  You know....the begging ones.  

Got some plans here to make sugar cookie dough for Easter cut outs. I will have to find some of those multicolored sprinkles and a can of icing.  That's not how my Mama would have done it but sometimes you have to adapt.

Y'all be merry and bright.  And please don't kill the bunnies ^j^

 

better shoes

I have some ordered that should be here tomorrow if they're not in crisis mode.  You know, the supply chain disruption and whatnot.  I'm so excited to get 'em because my feet aren't holding up well with the past three models that have a lot of  miles on them.  I wish I had a buck for every pair of shoes I bought to work in on the concrete floors.  Pounding them!  I hope this hospital reunion thing happens.  Sometimes I tend to put the cart before the horse, or the other way around.  I'm just a hot mess of an old lady trying to enjoy her golden years.  And you know what?  I'm loving it.

I saw my first fully bloomed redbud today on the way to paradise.  I pointed it out to Joy as we passed.  Those are my favorites.  There's some sort of huge white flowering tree there too.   It truly is a heavenly place to be around that lake.  

 

Well, I've slept since then and it rained. April showers and all that.  We will be wishing for it about June after bean planting.  I met the new neighbors today and got good vibes from them.  I have so missed having somebody there.  I am still friends with the previous family.  We spent seven long years together on that lane.  Mia was only 10 and Mandy's kids even younger.

I had not been back there in spring for many years and was amazed at how green it is.  Daddy used to take me fern hunting in the woods around there.  The river is everywhere and from the highest point you can see backwater gleaming.  It rarely goes away before June.  

I miss my people something awful and not just the girls.  Friends have come and gone in my life and I realize that they are there for a season.  And always, the seasons change.   They come from all phases of my life like being a mom, work and hanging out with.  Some of them I've known since I was Reaves' age.  And some?  I've just met recently.

The one and only book I've ever started was named: I'm not going to tell because somebody will rip off the title.  Anywho, it's all about how our lives are put together like pieces of colored glass in an artistic creation.  Or a quilt.  Or a painting.  My only handmade glass piece is purple and green and reflects the wear and tear of being moved multiple times.  But then there's the masterpiece from Larry.  The sunset lights up the bright reds and blues every day and I think about him.  

"Come on people now, love one another."  

one of these days

That's what my brother says if I fail to answer and call him back.  I hope it ain't today because I left my phone at another house and am adjusting quite well as long as I have the innerwebs.  I figure there's got to be a way to call 911 up in here.  I love sitting on my porches but blackbirds are in season and it's like "very noisy".  Plus they poop on everything!  It is now growing season number two for me down here and I'm amazed at the little bits of what I planted survived and are peeking out.  Like stargazer lily!  I think that will be the first thing I smell in heaven.

Lots of folks are putting off buying their stuff because their beds aren't clean.  Mine aren't either but those leaves sure are good mulch fo' free!  I'm mostly a perennial kind of gal because it saves on landscaping in the long run.  I noticed a tiny bit of my clematis coming up by the porch.  I'll try to train it ;)  I'm hoping Mayberry has taught his sidekick what's a flower and what's not.  I may have to give little dude a walk around the yard before he weedeats.

I got nothing but random musings today.  I hope it's not been a bad Monday for all y'all.  I'm still above ground and functioning so I'll take that ^j^

a beautiful spring day

Wow, have we been blessed with great weather.  After spending most of yesterday outdoors I got another dose of sun standing at the cemetery paying respects to a family friend.  I got a double dose of Mary Beth which was delightful and got to hug KayKay and a lot of others.  Cathy and me  and Delores and Hubert all huddle around the same spot close to the front.  Next week there will be palm waving galore and some more lessons about the triumphal entry.  Y'all know the rest of the story.  

Lauren and I went to lunch today as mother and daughter minus Reaves and it was so nice to just sit and talk.  An hour of just me and her catching up.  Hard to do that when Reaves is around.  I'm tired, but it's that good kind where you know you've had a workout.  My next priority is new tennis shoes.   When I was working a pair lasted about six months.  Now it's a year or so but I'm overdue.  I can feel what the lack of arch support is doing to my legs.  Like charley horses and what not.. 

Grief is a very difficult thing to maneuver.  Sometimes it's gradual like a slow decline in a relationship or life, and sometimes the grief shows up after a sudden tragedy.  Either way, it's hard.  You just kind of do it in reverse.  My friend Larry died in his sleep and that shocked us all.  I always try to hold onto the last time I saw somebody I love because it may be the last.  

Keep the faith Easter people ^j^

you might be a country girl

This was hunt and gather day for me and I hit it hard after a 13 hour nap feeling just good enough to take on what needed to be done plus a little plant shopping.  Everything I bought plant wise is on the screened in porch waiting for warmer weather.  I got some of Stanley's favorite 'mater plants and too much more to mention.  It looked like a huge fire sale on ferns out by the courtyard.  I scored the ONLY hanging basket of begonias to be had and was proud of it.  My porch is like a little greenhouse!  Me and Reaves call it our special place. Believe it or not, spring is here in a teasing sort of way where we all want to grow stuff but it's too early.

I have also been in a cooking mood for some reason.  I like to play around with recipes and add something different to make it interesting.  One of my stops today was a kroger pickup where my great friend met me at the car.  I only spent 30 something dollars thanks to coupons.

I'll be headed to tabernacle in the morning and see what the day brings.  The girls may come which means nothing else matters.  I wipe my slate clean for them.   Watch our for the Easter bunny and Cross ^j^