Just another day in the life.....and other silly things

I've been a little down lately.......I'm only telling you that so you'll understand that sometimes silly sarcasm keeps a person from running screaming down the street which would not be a good thing.  Not that I would.....I hope.

There was about a four second power outage here a couple of nights ago that apparently took out the cable box in our bedroom.  Yes, I know you really aren't supposed to watch t.v. in the bedroom and especially if you have sleep problems.  I do.  Have sleep problems.  But I like watching t.v. in my bedroom.  So it was a problem for me that the t.v. wasn't working.  Not a huge problem, but a problem.  That needed fixing.

So.... I had to go to the cable company to replace that box, get another one and several of the new boxes you have to have on any television that doesn't have cable.....or something like that.  I can't figure out why they can't just quit changing stuff, but nobody asked my opinion.

I am directionally challenged.  Even though I have lived in this small town all my life except for the five and a half months I lived in Alaska, I still can't find my way around town.  This is a simple fact of life for me.  I usually ask my husband for directions.  Today I didn't ask....... I thought I knew where the cable company was......plus I was asleep when my resident direction giver left for work.  The direction giver knows that you don't wake up the woman who has sleep problems.

Arriving at the cable location, I discovered it was a bank.  Now I'm no genius, but I was pretty sure they weren't giving out cable boxes.  What do you think I did?????  Bingo....called the husband!  He didn't actually give the best directions so I ended up in the movie theatre parking lot.

Fortunately, or maybe not, there was this bridge that went across to the cable parking lot and it seemed reasonable to just walk across.  The top of my car may or may not need a new paint job because somebody forgot to trim the branches of this oak tree.

AND.......

a couple of the low hanging branches got closed in my car door.  I almost cancelled the rest of the day at this point.......but I had a bra fitting later in the day, so I hung on to that last shred of sanity, walked across that bridge and way, way, way down to the actual door of the cable company.  VICTORY.....got the cable boxes to the car......released the trapped branches and managed to close the door and I promise that no oak trees were damaged in the making of this picture.....well maybe a little.

The rest of the day was uneventful....that was a good thing.   

In her own words.....

My mama had a birthday last week, her 88th.  Our family decided to hold an open house in her apartment because that would be easiest for her.  The cake was ordered, flowers ordered, the invitation went out on Facebook, the party was arranged.

So what is that old saying?....... the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray?????   Well, it's not just mice and men let me tell you!  Maybe it's not good to make plans.  Maybe we should have just had lunch with mama.  Maybe, maybe, maybe.

The morning before the party, I got ready to run errands.....get stuff for the party.....when a call came from one of mama's caregivers asking me to please come.

Confusion reigned!  Mama was confused about a lot of stuff, but the main thing was that she didn't understand that daddy was dead.  Wanted to call him, wanted to know where he was, wanted to know if he was at home, wanted to know if he was at the shop.  It was awful.  There are no words to tell you how awful it was or how badly it hurt to tell her over and over again that her beloved husband was no longer on this earth.

One of Daddy's favorite hymns was Dwelling In Beulah Land.....at one point when mama asked where he was I just said this.........no I didn't sing it!

Mama, he's standing on the mountain underneath a cloudless sky
he's drinking from the fountain that never will run dry
Oh, yes, he's feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply
for he is dwelling in Beulah Land.

Side note.....google that song and read the lyrics, you'll be glad you did.

Those might not be the exact words to the chorus of that song, but they're close enough, and mama smiled for a moment.  A moment's reprieve from the agitation that had gripped mama's mind probably the night before and was still there on this eve of her birthday.

My sister got here after a very stressful morning of her own to find mama in this state of mind.  My brother had been there that morning before I got there.  You know, I think we had all had a fair share of stress before this part of the day even started!

We left mama only for short periods of time to go finish the party things we had to do, wondering if we should cancel the entire thing, but knowing that since the invitation was on Facebook, we didn't know who might be coming.

We went home that night only to get another call.  Cathy decided to spend the night with mama......we got mama a sedative....... we decided the party must go on.

Party day came and we got mama's room all set up.  What was mama doing?  Sleeping so soundly that we couldn't wake her.  I think I should explain that for the past several months, mama has had very little to say, sometimes not even answering direct questions.  But the day before her party, she couldn't stop talking and didn't sleep for probably 24 hours.  That plus the sedative and she slept.  And slept.  Party time came and she still slept.

Tried waking her several times.  She's not faking here folks.

The party was ready


Devin came and left with mama asleep

Things were getting tense.  Guests were filtering in and still mama slept.  It was becoming awkward.
Still wondering what in the world to do, mama's main caregiver came in, knelt down and whispered something to mama.  Miraculously, mama woke up and became the queen birthday girl!
By the way, we still don't know what Angela said to her.

Let me take this moment to say we are blessed to have caregivers that truly love mama and it shows.

Mama and her six very relieved children.

Mama's niece, cousin Ann

Mama and her two sisters in law, Aunt Evelyn and Aunt Frances

Grandchildren, Arwen and David

Friends

More neighbors......this friend just happened to be one of brother Tommy's teachers from high school.  Oh, but that's a whole other post!


the sisters with mama

a couple of my children

 grandson Chris

Grandson Matt and sister in law Lois.
By the way, young Dr. Matt is single, tall, blonde, handsome and has a great job, a new house, a great sense of humor and is also going to kill me for sharing.  But if you're a young, sweet, intelligent Christian woman......let me know and I can hook you up!  :)  Just one thing....you must love the Gators!

brothers in law......serious conversation

Grandson Bryce

sister in law, Pam bringing delicious food!

brother in law Mike with grandson Joshua

grandson Mike with his children

cousins

Sweet friends.....this is mama's good friend.  They read together most afternoons......they are both named Mary Margaret....I think that's kind of special!

Surprise!  Grandchildren Dickie and Joneida came unexpectedly from out of town

sister Debbie with mama's great-granddaughter Amanda

mama and my mama in law

grandson David

 Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

 Card and gift opening had to wait until the day after the party.......Cathy is reading birthday cards.

Nikki will kill me, I seem to be getting killed a lot in this post, but this is one of mama's beautiful caregivers.  She takes such good care of mama and makes her look beautiful every day.

Mama had a surprise visit from her cousin

We had been cleaning out a drawer in mama's bedroom because there were some bugs there and found one of mama's diaries....Cathy took it out of the box and it opened to something mama wrote about three weeks after daddy died in 1996.  In that entry, she wrote in her own words and in great detail about the day before and the night (or early morning) that daddy died.  She even wrote her prayer that God let daddy be o.k. but for His will to be done.  We talked a bit about whether or not to read it to her and decided not to make a decision.

The day after her party in the late afternoon, mama asked again if I knew where daddy was.  I said a quick prayer for wisdom and asked her if she wanted me to read the words she had written about that day and she said yes.  So with lots of fear about how she would react, I read that entry to her.  After 15 years, it was still very emotional for me reading the details so I expected her to be very emotional.........but when I was finished reading and looked up, she said very matter of factly.......that was good writing.  Stunned, but very relieved I hoped she would now remember and her mind would be relieved.

She still asks and has her moments, but she's much better.  Realistically, we know that she's going to have good and bad days from now until the time that God calls her home, but we don't want her to be confused or frightened.

Whew......some may wonder why I told all the bad stuff along with the party stuff.


This is why........

You may be going through something similar and it may help to know you're not alone!!


 He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4  The Message

These verses are from the paraphrase the Message.  I usually don't like quoting from it, but it just seemed to catch the heart of the matter.

Whatever you may be going through, be assured someone else has walked your path too.......but much more than that be assured that if you love Him, He walks with you too!

Really busy.....

I'm not gone......don't forget me.  I'll be back soon I promise.  It's a really busy time right now!

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!

Boy did Lewis Carroll ever have it right!  I'm feeling like I may need eight days a week!

We have been seriously busy around here, but before we get to that let's talk about a really peaceful day in a really beautiful place.

Every now and then my husband's stressed spouse alert works and he knows I need a break.  This time it was September 10 and he got things ready and we headed up to the pasture.  A very peaceful place.......

it even has a few well placed condos.

Russell got to play with his toy

Just look at the sand at Blue Pond....remind you of the beach?

 We put our chairs out and enjoyed the view

Watched the beautiful sunset

........ had a water bottle glass of wine and just relaxed...... fished a bit but were unsuccessful.

The most inspiring part of the day was when a mature bald eagle flew overhead.  He was majestic and proud.  It was especially nice to see on the day before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, reminding us that we can soar again in this country.

I didn't get a shot of him.....but he looked a lot like the one above.

Thanks, honey, I needed that day!

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:31

Too much vacation.....

You know you could spoil a girl with too much vacation time.  Unless you bring her back to reality and she gets a stomach bug.

Yes, this ugly fellow attacked the day after we got home.  I'm so thankful that it wasn't actually on the trip. Poor little Charley had it and he was miserable most of the day before we left.......I now know why.

 We enjoyed our time visiting with Tommy, Claudia and Charley.  We were happy to go watch Charley have fun at Tiny Toes Gym, where he goes lots of Saturdays.   The lady that thought this up is one smart cookie.  Parents bring their children and for a few dollars, the kids can play in a place where they can hardly get hurt while you get to sit and watch their fun!

Charley spent some time in the castle

Enjoyed climbing on this ....whatever it is


 Loved the balls

Daddy helped with the trampoline jumping

 Charley would run over for a hug from mama every now and then

Even Nana showed off her tiny toes.  I think I was actually trying to get up from that mat.

Jumping for joy

 One on one with daddy

Later in the afternoon Pappy and Daddy left to go to the Gator Game......Pappy is giving Charley instructions about watching on t.v. ....these boys are serious about some Gators.

However, as it turned out, Charley had to work while the big boys played!

He really put his muscles into the job!

Then he led us on a walk down the street a ways

He rode his blue dog.....someday that will be a blue car...yikes!

Played in the sandbox.....Charley tired out mama and nana had a full day!

Sunday, we drove down to see some friends that we haven't seen in almost 10 years!
We depended on the GPS to get us there.  The GPS in my car we call Lola, Russell's GPS got a new name on this trip.......Jerketta.  She took us everywhere but to their house.

When we finally arrived, I was so happy to see Linda!  Joe too, but Linda and I have been friends a long time and worked together years ago.  She hasn't changed a bit and it was old times!
Linda and Joe took us to eat at a great Cajun Restaurant.......thanks guys!

We couldn't stay long and it was very hard to say goodbye with promises not to let 10 years go by before we see each other again.

Charley and mama were waiting for us when we got back and they fixed us a really good dinner

I just really like this picture........ Charley reaching for Pappy's hand


likes some t.v. time


Labor day arrived and we had already decided not to brave the traffic going home so we spent the day visiting and Tommy grilled steaks for supper while Pappy kept Charley entertained and away from the hot grill

Tuesday morning we headed home and had a leisurely trip with a little rain coming through from a tropical storm.

Thanks, dearest husband for planning this trip and taking me away from it all for a few days!