learn to be still

Oh.My.Lord, ya'll.  If  I've ever been more excited to have one day off, it is tomorrow.  The month of September has turned into a whirlwind of crises both personal and professional and I really just didn't need that right now.  But hey.  It is what it is.  And this too shall pass.  It makes you appreciate the quiet times like right now.  My two dog babies are snoozing and the windows are flung open for the first time since May.  And yes, there is a very nice breeze from the northwest.  Thanks BE ^j^

Hopefully I will finish my story at the Dew about the riverguys and manage to sift through some personal paperwork and laundry.  Maybe work in a visit with the grands since they're a mile down the road.  My niece was due to be born today and I guess it could still happen, but I sense that she's holding out so that older brother can have today's birthday all to himself.  There is this odd bond among people who share the same birthday....I work with several who share my date.  It must be a cosmos thing or something!

I'm headed to the porch in my lucky flip flops.  Hope you are doing something just as lovely.

^j^

signs from above

I have found that Big Ernie tends to leave me messages kinda sorta like he did for Moses and all the rest of those folks.  They've never been of the burning bush or stone tablet variety, but I do catch on more quickly than ever these days.  Like a few minutes ago when I was out attempting to clean up the lawn yard a little bit and got stung by a wasp.  I figure that's a sign that this is not the day meant to be for that task.  Cooler air is on the way....my time will come.

A friend and I did the truck tour of our farm yesterday evening and I got to snap a couple of river pictures right above where the levee blew out during that ginormous May flood.  There was beer and a couple of folding chairs and it was a lovely time to watch the sunset over the mighty Forked Deer.  The leaves are beginning to change and drop off slowly in that way where you can hear one hit the dust of the forest floor.  Sam went swimming too!

Work was work, and mercifully not too busy once we got past the early morning rush.  More of the same tomorrow.  And the next day.  It's how we (almost) pay the bills. I've been running short on cash so my satellite teevee service will go dead on Monday evening.  I kinda see that as a message from BE too.  Enough is enough with the small stuff. At least there's only one month left on the contract with this one.

As for me and mine, we shall be on the porch every day until it snows.

^j^

sittin' here looking like this

That's something that Yaya and I bounce back and forth as a greeting when one asks what the other is doing.  I have retreated into my smartass middle aged woman cave for a day and a half of solitude.  My sanity depends on it!  I have never been much on drama as a staple of life, but so many folks just THRIVE on it that sometimes you get sucked into the vortex.  And I seriously hate it when that happens.  Women are the worst, hands down.  And especially groups of them that work together on a daily basis.  Anytime you have that many females together more than one somebody is bound to having either raging or ebbing hormones with variable personal crises in motion.  I know, because I've been there a loooooooong time.  No pocket watch either.  But that is the sawmill and I'm off the clock.

We gathered at Mom and Daddy's for a birthday supper last night for both of us Virgo girls.  My brother grilled and I cleaned up so it easy.  It was the first time we've eaten a meal together as a family in months what with jobs and moving and weddings and such.  BG's partner in crime from teenage years is gettin' married next month so there's lots of fru-fru bridezilla type stuff going on.  They will both be beautiful, I'm sure.

If anybody wants to know what to get me for Christmas, I'll take cases of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  Those things are freakin' AMAZING!  I know....where have I been?

Leave a message at the beep.  I'm either away from my desk or with another client.

Peace out  ^j^

when reality becomes real

Yesterday was a benchmark of sorts.  On the Saturday before her 26th birthday my beautiful babygirl got visits from not only her Memaw and I,  and then we had a sleepover with all the critters present.  She graciously slept in the recliner so that I could sprawl on her bed with the dogs.  It is a quiet peaceful place, lovingly cleaned and decorated by she and Gomer.  The neighbors up front have three kids and a dog so there was plenty of action with bikes and squeals of delight.  I could actually imagine my grandchildren growing up there, and that's a good thing.

It hit me when I headed to the 'burg this morning to pick up my parents that her home is now my home AWAY from home.  I can rest there, not feeling obliged to clean or do anything other than pick up after myself.  And besides......there's that tub with the jets!   She is a different person there, a wiser and mellower version of herself, secure in the fact that she has made the move and somebody who loves her has her back.  He's not around much, but sometimes that's a good thing in the long run.  She is finding herself there, the parts that she didn't know had gone into hiding.  It makes me smile AND cry.  Does that make sense?

I've always tried to let her know the pride that I feel for where she's been and what she has accomplished in life. Against overwhelming odds, she grew up with a social conscience that makes her mama grin.  She's always been jealous because I grew up in the sixties when all that tie-dye skinny dipping thing was going on and my own mother took me to rock concerts in Memphis.  But ya know what?  She has the kind of soul that rang true during that era, and still does to this day.   Peace and love ya'll.  Peace and love.

Happy birthday LP...you were a gift from God to me when you were born, and that gift continues to grow as you do.


Mom ^j^

happy shit

That's a term that we coined up at Bev's bar when Yaya, me and our Redneck Friend used to meet for ladies afternoon.  With the sound of dominos slapping the granite counter as a backdrop and an occasional cheer, we discussed and bitched and solved the world's problems on more than one occasion.  After we'd had enough of that, we would move onto the "happy shit" like how the kids are and who's getting married/engaged/graduated/etc.  Happy shit is anything remotely resembling a positive experience , often with a spiritual tone to the whole thing.  Sometimes one exceeds the drama limit for a lifetime or a week, and just has to say it is what it is and so be it.  I'm gonna have a beer and forget about it for now.   I know, that is so like Scarlet O'Hara while Tara burned.  I'm Southern, remember?

Me and the salsa sisters headed to Mexico today only to find the doors of their old place locked with a sign directing us across the street to their new digs.  NICE.  Very nice.  The staff told us that they found out this morning that they would be opening today for lunch.  Yeeehaw!  The highway access is much easier, and it's right next to Lowe's which is the closest thing to a Home Depot that we have in the 'burg.  I am totally ignorant about things pertaining to TVs and DVRs so the one in my new den has been sitting there for a week staring at me with a black screen.  Gomer came and fixed it for me today so that I can watch and cook.  I lurve that guy and his GF.

It's still in the 90s here, but the nights are cooler so that helps.  Our cotton got sprayed last week so it won't be long until the bolls get sucked up into the picker headed to the gin packed in trailers topped with colored tarps.  The dry spell hurt it, but corn did good and the beans are turning yellow.  Won't be long until the combines hit the dirt for another harvest on the lane.

It's Friday....do I hear an amen?

fair credit, my ass

Well, I guess ya'll all breathed a sigh of relief that the Florida idiot got talked out of his little hellfire and brimstone stunt.  Not Ever.  This dude got some serious attention which just put the spotlight on ethnic tensions within this country that have existed for years.  I was struck by the media pieces that I viewed this year on that famous date, noting that there is broader sense of purpose leading those who lived to tell about it.  We didn't know it at the time, but our country was about to be changed forever in a not so nice sort of way. I watched media coverage of persecutions aimed at peaceful Muslim families back then, and it's still happening.  I blame ignorance on the part of critics who do not truly understand what a particular faith is based on.  So called Christians who are not inclusive enough to live and let live scare the crap out of me.  Case in point?  You guessed it.  TFI!

Birthday gathering has been moved to my house because BG has some plumbing problems.  That's just dandy with me because I'm at home and people are coming to see me.  And they know I'll look like a redneck smartass southern girl who could care less about hair and makeup.  Because that....is how I roll.  Somebody remind me to snap a picture of the word BITCH spray painted on the roof of the barn.  You think that was directed at me???????  Nah.

Oh yeah...the fair credit thing.  I've been in the, shall we say, lower end of the credit score system ever since I became a single gal.   I'm just about close enough to see daylight and my Daddy agreed to co-sign a loan for me to get to a manageable place on my own.  Two banks turned me down so I didn't bother to pursue it.  The reason?  Federal regulations that stipulate that if the loan officer doesn't  personally KNOW the person applying for credit, they should give them equal opportunity...credit score wise...to somebody they do know.  Which basically means this:  A person like myself, trying to re-establish credit has nowhere to go.  I will never own another credit card as long as I live because I went through hell over that little trick.  All I want is enough money to pay the bills and not be devastated when the AC tab is 400 bucks.

Over and out kids.  Keep the faith ^j^

and so it goes

That was one of Old Hoss's favorite expressions back before he became a smartass blogger dung beetle.  Somehow, that phrase just sort of sums up life without all the extra words.  We can moan and groan and whine and cry but it is what it is and the only cure for that is a pair of big girl (or big boy ) panties and a can-do faithful attitude.  Not that I always REMEMBER that......I mean gah.  Sometimes you just have to go into nuclear meltdown or have a hissy fit to cleanse the soul and move on.  That's the story of my week, and I'm sticking to it.

It came one helluva storm here yesterday afternoon so Pecan Lane is littered with branches and chunks.  According to farmer Joey's rain gauge:  2 inches, in just about an hour.  After the storm died down, I dodged road debris and went to Gigi's to help with the annual fall cleaning of the flower beds around her pool.  I talked her into planting perennials this year with the promise that next spring will be a breeze.  That verbena spread all OVER the place.  When I left, there were close to ten garbage bags full sitting in the driveway.  Slept for twelve hours last night and could still take a nap.  Do I hear an amen?

When I went down to the grands' house to count pills and give allergy shots, I picked up her vacuum cleaner so that I can attempt to at least get one up on the dust bunnies. Living center square in a bean field makes that difficult at times and downright impossible if you don't keep a new broom handy.  Thank goodness there's no carpet anymore.  THAT was nasty.  I spent one blustery February ripping every inch of it up by hand.  We padded around on the ancient wood underneath for years before we got something that looked a little better.  Amazingly, I have managed to keep the rent current for the past year since our change in management.  Of course I'm behind on the dentist and hand surgeon and propane, but.  So it goes.

I'm headed to Casa Babygirl tomorrow for a post-birthday party at her new place.  My brother is playing poker on vacation so I've got both ends of church delivery.  Lunch with my parents on Sunday is one the highlights of the week for me.   Daddy always pays out of his "allowance" and our tabs have ranged from ten bucks to almost fifty according to where we go that day.  I think we're back at Perkins for a while :)

God bless America.......land that I love ^j^