To Washington and back in less than 24 Hours

I know all of us have done this…what I've done with my blog. Started something with the idea that you would keep up with it for a long time. Oh, well. I really have to forgive myself and let it go; otherwise I would just sit and feel badly. So, now that I've said that, let me share today’s blog…

This week there was a story on one of the local new programs about an Honor Flight going from Nashville to Washington DC. And it reminded me of the Honor Flight I was privileged to participate in. I escorted my mother from Decherd, TN to Washington DC a few yeas ago. All I can say, is if you know anyone who served in WWII, please get information for them about a local Honor Flight and consider escorting them, especially a relative.

Like the title says, we went to Washington DC and came back in less than 24 hours. We left Mom’s apartment in Decherd at about 3:30 a.m., drove to the local Wal-Mart and boarded a bus for the Huntsville airport. I don’t remember the date, but it was when Huntsville had no electricity. We drove all the way though Huntsville and to the airport in total darkness. The first lights we saw were the airport lights. Very interesting…

On the way down, T-shirts were handed out for everyone. One of the volunteers had made biscuits and bacon and ham. These were offered to everyone, because who wanted breakfast at 3:30 a.m. Once we arrived at the airport, we were taken by carts to the inspection area and then on to the gate. We left as it was getting daylight and flew to the Baltimore Washington International Airport.

This was one of the most emotional and uplifting experiences I've ever had. The only other thing that comes close was when I did Crusillo in Monteagle, TN. Even now as I tell this, tears stream down my face.

Before we landed, an announcement was made that because this was an Honor Flight there might be a special shower for us. As we got closer to the gate, we drove between two fire trucks that showered the plane with water, spraying it up in the air with it falling back down on the plane.  The other passengers stood and applauded. Some near the vets, shook their hands and thanked them. Remember, we all had on those beautiful blue shirts.

Once we left the plane, at the gate, a long line of service people in uniform waited for us and they applauded as we passed, some reaching out to shake hands and say "thank you." This is where my first tears began to surface. Things only got more intense…

(to be continued along with an explanation of the photo above)

www.honorflight.org/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plgjw_0VHaA

...and My Birthday

Between November 18 and December 31, there are 6 birthdays in my family. Both aunts, Mother, husband, nephew and self. (There is a cousin's birthday on Dec. 31 as well, but she's never around for it.) So we try to have a birthday lunch during this time especially for birthday people. This year we went to J.D.'s Buffet in Winchester. They were so accommodating. They allowed us to bring in a cake, ice cream and drinks. And the food is good country food.

 

This is Google saying "Happy Birthday Carrie"

 

Today is my birthday. When I was a kid, my parents made sure I had a birthday. They didn't mix it up with Christmas, like a lot of people. But now it get's mixed in with Christmas. This year, I've had a text and 5 phone calls. It's been a good birthday so far. My sweet husband gave me a Kindle. I'd been thinking about one, but hadn't verbalized that. So it was a sweet surprise, and now I've had it in my hand almost all day. We'll go out for steak tonight. It's a good life.

Now for the juicy part. I've finally done it. You know how when women get older they buy "old lady shoes." Well, I've bought an old lady car. And I love it. It's a white Lincoln Town Car and it has heated seats, two sun visors each, and you can ride in it all day and not be worn out.

It's actually my second. I traded my convertible for the first one the 20th of November. Then, it got totaled on the 20th day of ownership. Mom and I were coming back from Murfreesboro in the rain and wind and a young woman pulled out from the right. She didn't see me. From her angle, I was behind a truck. But no one was hurt and now I have a younger Lincoln Town Car.

The first one had white leather interior, which was beautiful. But this one has a light gray and it's a little more practical, especially since our dog Rosie travels with us all the time.

Yesterday, John said I was too tall for this car. I can see over the steering wheel. Now you know why I think I've bought an "old lady car."

Merry Christmas!

This was mine.

Now this is mine.

 

Mom's Birthday

Today, my mother is 89 years old. She is now living in an assisted living community in town. Until October, she was living about 1/2 hour away. She lived alone, was still driving (even to my home), and volunteering at the local senior center two days a week.

But after a couple tumbles, which seemed to be getting more serious, my brother and sister and I decided something had to change. Since my sister is a consultant with the company that owns the local assisted living facility, we checked it out.

I took Mom over one Wednesday and we looked around and got some information. My brother went by her apartment and explained all the financials to her, and she decided to move in. But now, I'm wondering if that was such a good idea. Of course, since I live the closest I am the primary caregiver and with her the most, and I get the most feedback from her. So now she is wondering why we "stuck her in here."

Oh, how things appear differently to each of us. We use our own filters to interpret life. We thought we were giving her plenty of information and we thought she was being honest and sincere with us. Little did we know... Now, when friends ask her why she moved in "there," she tells them, "To keep family peace," "Because its what my kids wanted," and other similar comments.

My husband and I take her to lunch most every Sunday, and this being her birthday, we thought we'd continue the same. But Friday, she told me she didn't want to go to lunch today. I said that was fine, but I've been trying to figure it out. "She's tired of doing everything with me," "She's depressed and doesn't want to do anything," "She's angry about being 'stuck in there,'" and anything else that might explain it.

So this morning, I called and asked a friend of hers to take Mom to an activity we were going to tomorrow evening. I got emotional and explained I was worried about her. The friend just called back and told me, she had a great conversation with Mom. She left her laughing, and Mom refused her offer. Mom had responded, "Oh, no, Carrie will be so disappointed if she doesn't get to go. She loved that last program and she looks forward to this." Not...

But we'll go and it will be fine. And life goes on. I love my momma. Happy Birthday, Mom!

What filter am I using to interpret my life that I'm not aware of? Oh, well, or Whatever!!!

Can you say Oops!

Well, so much for the new picture taking job. After two days out and hard at it, I realized this is a lot more work than I'm getting paid for. So, I quit! Hated that. I really wanted to do that job, but it just seems like a joke telling someone to do all that work for such a small amount of money. I know there are people out there who will do it and be glad to do it. But not me. I'm way too old for that much work. And I do like a desk job.

We were in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg over the weekend. The East Tennessee Historical Preservation organization had a conference on the same. It was very interesting. It was held at Arrowmont, an arts and crafts school right in the middle of Gatlinburg. On Saturday, we had a field trip out to Elkmont in the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is an interesting area where well-to-do people in Knoxville had cottages where they spent the summer. A couple of the larger building have been preserved as close as possible to the original.

It appears the cottages were painted some bright colors, reminiscent of beach cottages. And trying to preserve them as they were, one of the buildings that has been restored is painted pink with blue shutters. On most of the buildings that haven't been restored it is possible to tell what color they were. If you're ever in the area, you should at least drive through the community. These restored buildings are available to rent for day events, such as reunions, weddings, parties, etc. You have to be out by 9 p.m.

Cabin in Elkmont

On Sunday morning when we were leaving, Johns car was making a horrible noise when he turned the steering wheel. OMG, what were we to do? We called a couple people we know who are auto savvy and got the advice to put in some power steering fluid. Who knew!!! It did it. Seems when it is a little low on fluid and it gets cold, air bubbles appear and I guess that's what happened. so now we have to make sure it not leaking.

But the trip home was beautiful. We thought most of the trees would be bare, but there were lots of beautiful leaves still showing. We drove through Townsend, which is a beautiful area. It was all beautiful, except the Pigeon Forge traffic. I've lived in Atlanta, Fort Worth, Tallahassee and this traffic was worse than anywhere I've ever been. And it wasn't at any particular time. All day Saturday was unbelievable.

And of course it was good to get home. And today it is winter...rainy and cold.

Coming down the mountain from Sewanee 1

Coming down the mountain from Sewanee 2

(taken through the windshield)

Retirement, hum...

I'm so embarrassed. I apologize to my followers. I really planned to write here regularly, but life gets in the way.

I finally realized this spring, that it was time to start doing the things that years ago I wanted to do when I retired. Of course I'm not retired full time. Couldn't do that. In fact I've started a new job.

All my life, I wanted to earn my living from a variety of things at the same time. And I've always done free lance graphic design. Last fall, I studied tax return preparation and did that during the tax season this year. So now I'm going to be doing some contract work with a local "inspection" agency. I'll be driving all over the county taking pictures of houses for mortgage and banking companies. Very interesting. Thought I'd be taking nice drives, but it fast and complicated. But fun. It's gotta be fun.

I'll be doing tax return preparation for Jackson-Hewitt in January. And to that end, I passed the federal Registered Tax Return Preparer test. So I'm not a certified RTRP. make sure yours is.

I also accumulated all the credits to earn Prevention Certification Level II, which means I can prevent things.

But back to the things I wanted to do when I retired. One of those things was doing a lot of gardening. Flowers, not vegetables. Been there, done that out of necessity. Don't have to now. So, one of the trees in our front yard has a ton of roots above the ground, which makes mowing difficult. I make it a shade garden: ferns, hostas, caladiums, and some flowers. I have always loved bleeding hearts. They flowers are beautiful and the plant is light and airy.

      (Stole this photo from Flower Library.)

So I planted one. They're expensive, well kinda. And I don't think it made it. Saw the last of it a couple weeks ago, the leaves were brown and hanging down. Next time I looked, it was gone. But I'll try again next year. Of course, this one might come back. We'll see.

Planted a bunch of caladiums under the dogwood tree next to the birdbath. My favorite scene of the birdbath is when the cat, Trucker, gets up there to drink. Very bird friendly. With all the heat this year, I had to water a bunch. Keeps you in touch with your plants. When it was wet, I missed that.

I also wanted to start quilting, so in the spring I made a quilt for a very dear friend of mine. I thought it was going to be a lap quilt, but she is kinda short, so she uses it as a bed quilt. I think it might be a little short. It's one big heart. You can see it on my facebook page. She uses it every day and even took it on vacation with her. She's a good friend.

Now, I've just finished a quilt for another friend. It's Halloween colors and fabrics and it's for his 14th birthday. He was born on Halloween, so I thought this would be an appropriate birthday present. I'm going to give it to him today or tomorrow so he can enjoy it for a while. Halloween's one of those holidays, that when it's over, it's over. Don't think he'll want it hanging around after that. May though.

Well, I've got a headachy sinus infection and I'm out of energy. I'll try to get back here before too long. Thanks for following my blog.

Yard Saleing

Is that a word?

Whose bright idea was "Yard Sale?" How 'bout many feet for sale? or Lawn Sale? And then frequently you'll see Garage Sale and even Porch Sale. I wouldn't mind buying a Garage.

When I was a kid, we had Rummage Sales. Many times the stuff was from big cardboard barrels that came from some "church up north." That's an anonymous place. And I understand there are places in the country where they have Tag Sales.

Which brings to mind "Flea Market." In Hawaii, they had "Swap Meets." That sounds a lot better than "Flea Market." Who wants anything related to fleas?

The Swap Meet on Oahu in the late 70s was held at a Drive-In Theater. People would bring their things in early in the morning (I'm assuming, 'cause I never got there till afternoon) and then got everything out before evening. Then it was open for movie goers. Oh, yeah, they could drive their car/truck right up to their spaces, which were usually separated by the speakers. I once bought two really neat wooden chairs for $2 each. I had them until about 10 years ago.

John and I have been trying to combine our households which has been challenging at best. We went from our separated living spaces to one. He lived in our house in Manchester that had about 1500 square feet. And I lived here in this house which has less than 1000 square feet. So you can imagine.

We had a yard sale last weekend: Thur, Fri, & Sat. Then we did a repeat Fri. and Sat. this weekend. It took him about six months to talk me into doing a yard sale. When we sold the Manchester house, we packed as much as we could in here and rented a storage unit for the stuff we weren't sure about letting go of. We promised ourselves that we would only keep it six months. And we did. We feel great about that.

We've had some nice conversations with people. Met some great neighbors. Renewed some old acquaintances. So, all in all, we've had a pretty good experience. We were rained out Sat. last week and we had to cover everything up today cause it started to rain. And we haven't made as much as we hoped we would. But there is actually some space in the house that isn't covered in stuff. And we're not bringing much back into the house.

Not much. Really! not much. A wing-back chair that needs reupholstered, a rattan chair that was his mothers and is very comfortable. But I got rid of a lot of fabric and yarn, which is a lot more expensive than I remembered.

But I guess the most important thing for me, is I have been thinking a lot before I purchase anything. I make sure I really need or really want it. And I've realized how much my stuff has owned me. I buy it, then I have to store and maintain it. I went to a workshop several years ago that left me with one very nice quote:

"They're called stores, because that's where you store stuff 

until you need it."

Dear God, help me leave things in the store till I need them and can properly care for them.

Another one bites the dust!

Across town, one of the oldest factories is being torn down. It's been there as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what it was originally built for, but it's main use was manufacturing shoes. Genesco Shoe Factory. My sister-in-law's parents worked there when she was a kid. I've known other people who had family who worked there.

It has been unused as a factory for a couple years, now and I frequently thought it would be a great place to convert into loft apartments.

One of the neatest things is, it has it's own water tower. Sticks way up above all the closest building and is old. Guess that is the neatest things about the whole building. It's old. I googled Genesco and found out it was built by the city and rented to the General Shoe Company for $1 per year. It was completed in 1934. Almost 80 years old. And now it's mostly gone. Right after the 1929 depressions, it was the "Savior" of the town.

I took a picture a couple years ago of a sycamore tree that was growing out of the roof. I'd include that photograph, but it's on the hard drive of my old computer that crashed Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to upload that data to my new laptop very soon.

I took several pictures of the Genesco ruins last week and it has some great lines. Here are a couple of them along with the water tower.

Loved that sky, too.

And here are a couple I took today.

I have to say, this is the cleanest destruction site I've ever seen. See the first photo.

And oh, the reason I am so fascinated by this deconstruction? I should have been an architect. But that's another blog.

Got my data back so here's the sycamore growing on the roof of the old Genesco building.

Enjoy!

What do you wanna be when you grow up?

Every time I think about doing something to bring in some extra money, I remember my Aunt Annie, about 92, telling me, "I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up." So what do I want to do when I grow up?

I've always loved photography. I bought my first camera in Hawaii at the PX on Fort Shafter. I had checked out the cameras of everyone I saw with a camera and read everything I could get my hands on. So I decided on an Olympus OM1. They were 30% smaller, 30% quieter, and 30% something else I thought was important. I would go to the PX every couple weeks to check it out. Finally after saving up the $300 plus, I told them, "I'll take it."

I loved that camera. Even though I was in Hawaii, I took a ton of black & white photos, learned to use the darkroom, and started shooting "garbage." One of my favorites was of cars that had been pushed off into the sea. There was a strip of beach off Kamehameha Highway that was a cliff with huge boulders at the bottom. There had to have been at least 10 cars lying among the rocks.

Arizona State had just started a program about "garbage," and I thought it was a calling. I still photograph "garbage..." unusual things in common places or common things in unusual places. Commodes are one of my favorites.

Lately, I've been looking at photos on Google Earth and have found some very interesting ones in Tullahoma by a guy by the name of Maurice. Check out this one.

https://picasaweb.google.com/soraxtm

I've been inspired by his technique. Here are a couple of my endeavors.

I don't have the computer program to do what he is doing, but I'm enjoying it what I'm doing and having some fun. 

So maybe I don't have to "know" what I want to do when I grow up. Maybe I just do what I enjoy when I enjoy it. I'm also getting my needle into fabric art. It might not bring in money, but it's the best way I've found to spend my time not making money.

So what are you doing just because it's fun?

Middle of June

I heard someone say the other day, as you get older the days get longer but the weeks and months get shorter. Now, I know what they mean.

John and I have been unemployed/retired for a year now. I was laid off on June 10, 2010. I continue to look for a job, but either I'm not qualified, or I'm too qualified (read: too old). I've done a little work on Elance, but basically I've just "rested." I can still draw unemployment for a while, but decided it was time to start the social security. Got my first check today. No one could live on what I get. With my unemployment, I can pay my bills, but not on the social security. Sure wouldn't make me socially secure.

I'm doing a lot of volunteer work, ie: escorting my mom to Wash. DC. I've got some more pictures to share. Another indication that something really special was happening that day, was our entrance to the Baltimore/Wash Airport. We had what is called a Water Gun Salute. A fire truck sat on either side of the path our plane was taking and sprayed water over us as we went by. Of course a photo inside would have only shown the plane's window with water running down it. But I found a pic online of it happening to another flight. Very dramatic and beautiful.

Our first destination was the World War II Memorial. Our bus let us out nearby and we did our group photograph. Mom and I rolled around to the entrance to get the full effect. There are two large monuments with World War II on them and you walk between them, down a slope to the middle. On either side of that stroll, there are bas-relief panels set into the walls. They are beautiful. And I didn't photograph them but you can see them listed as Bas-Relief Panels (duh) at http://www.wwiimemorial.com/default.asp?page=facts.asp&subpage=factsheets. 

There is a beautiful oval pool in the middle surrounded by columns with the name of each state on them. One either side there is a large column that rises above it all. On the left you'll see Pacific and on the right Atlantic for the two theatres. Also, on the walls around the outside there are quotes carved into the stone. Another visitor volunteered to photograph Mom and I in front of the one about women soldiers:

"WOMEN WHO STEPPED UP WERE MEASURED AS CITIZENS OF THE NATION, NOT AS WOMEN…THIS WAS A PEOPLE’S WAR, AND EVERYONE WAS IN IT." Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby.

You can look her up. Powerful woman.

Mom hates everyone seeing her in a wheelchair. And we only used one because there was so much to see and so much walking to see it all. So please ignore the wheelchair. She does not own one herself.

 

"Two Old Veterans"

Ask Mom to show you the brag book I made for her.

April 2011

Can't believe it's been so long since I wrote something.

This past weekend, Saturday, April 30, 2011, I escorted my mom on the Southern Middle Tennessee Honor Flight. This is a trip for World War II veterans to see the WWII Memorial. My mom is 87 years old and is doing fantastic, but walking very long is a chore for her. We flew in and out of Huntsville.

We left Winchester WalMart at 4:15 a.m. and returned at around 11 p.m. Same Day! Long Day.

The first hint that this was going to be something special was the police escort of the bus from Manchester and Tullahoma to Winchester. Didn't realize it was an escort till they headed out before us with lights flashing. They led us all the way to the Alabama state line. The world was so dark in Huntsville because of the electrical outage. As we left the Huntsville Airport, an employee said, "Enjoy the electricity in Washington." And did we ever.

The local organization provided wheelchairs, so Mom was in one whenever we weren't riding or sitting otherwise. The pat down and search at Huntsville was pretty thorough but everyone was very well behaved.

Once the flight was underway, the pilot announced that the Honor Flight was on board, and everyone broke out into applause. I was very surprised, one of the many of the day. The Air Tran plane was full. I think people were leaving because the electricity was down.

When we landed at the Baltimore/Washington DC airport, there were 20 or so military in uniform applauding and thanking all the WWII veterans. Tears were falling off my nose. I couldn't dab them cause I was pushing the wheelchair up the ramp.

All the way through the airport, people would stop, grab my mom's hand and thank her for her service. It was most touching and even now, I am tearing up.

Leaving BWI

This is the first installment of the day's events. After all it was nearly 20 hours. I've got a lot to tell you.

Love all,

Carrie

2011

Happy New Year, everyone!

I feel like I've been out of the loop for a couple months. First, we had Thanksgiving. Remember that almost 2 months ago? I cooked Thanksgiving Dinner for the first time in probably 12 years for seven. And it's one of my favorite holidays.

Then there was Christmas, and we thought we'd go to a local buffet, but didn't find out till Christmas Day, it was closed. So we did the second most popular thing: ate Chinese on Christmas Day. We, includes myself, my husband, John, and my mom. She lives about 20 miles away and we usually have Sunday lunch with her.

Oh, yeah, we had the first White Christmas in like 30 years ±. Not statistics I'm worried about. So our Christmas Story on 2010 included Chinese Buffet, but not because we lost our turkey. Actually, John and Mom both said it was the best Christmas dinner they’d ever had. No preparation, no cleaning up. We went in, ordered a drink, and started gathering our food.

After Christmas, Mom and I drove to visit my sister and her family in Wiggins, Mississippi. And I have to admit there were a couple trips to the casino, specifically "Island View." Best Buffet of the year, according to Carrie.

As we came back from Mississippi, we stopped in Birmingham for lunch with my cousin and her husband, neither of whom have we seen in probably 10 years. Maybe less, but, too many.

Once we returned home, I had to get ready for surgery to remove a portion of a bulging disk in lower back. That was certainly eventful. You’ll have to ask to get the details. I don’t want to bore everyone to death. I also started physical therapy on my left shoulder that was injured when I was hit by a car in 1986. OMG, that’s so long ago. But it finally started bothering me. The PT has been terrific. Love you, Amy!

So here I am months since my last note. I hope it was worth it.

Let me give you a short run down of all the illnesses of my friends. Three of them had knee replacement surgery in 2010, cousin has to have hearing aids in both ears, I’m having back surgery and physical therapy on my shoulder, two friends have cancer, and another one had an elbow replacement surgery last week. When I needed to go to pt Monday, I called one of the friends who had the knee replacement. She has just completed her pt. It was so strange to have a handicapped friend, take me to have my handicap worked on. Blind leading the blind?

I have realized, “Don’t expect to have a big funeral, if you live long enough to get old.”

The Holiday Season is Here

I just had a flash. It's it interesting we have our best holidays as daylight is declining. I wonder if this is because the ancient people thought they needed to get their partying done before the world ended.

I realized this year Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. And for the first time in a long time, I cooked our Thanksgiving Dinner. And we served it to some of my favorite relatives: Mom, 2 of her sisters, my sister and her husband. Then we celebrated 2 of the many birthdays my family has in November & December.

Earlier in my blog, I mentioned that I had a business I was contemplating. Well, I'm into it. I'm doing Virtual Assisting. I find my jobs on the internet and the client emails the work to me and I email it back. I'm finishing up a "leaflet" (brochure) for a client in Australia. And I'm in the middle of editing a book for a client in Singapore.

I'm doing what I love and making money at it. I'm working with elance.com a great organization with a terrific website. Here's my profile http://www.elance.com/s/yourofficetoolbox/

I can't recall if I'm mentioned the fact that we've been remodeling our kitchen. Well, it's finished except for some painting. And it's terrific. Here's are two photos of before and after. I have room for everything. Thanks to my sister and her organizational abilities! Love you, Rebecca.

                                                                              
Before (we had already started moving stuff out.)                               

After (this is the left side of the other photo)

Amazing change, huh! I'm loving it. I could stay in there all day. 

Check out more on my facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1364355181

The Wind is Blowing and the Leaves are Falling

The weather for the last few days has been wild. I am a weather lover.

Unless it's HOT or COLD, I love the weather. One of my favorite things to do is stand facing the wind with my arms up open wide! Exhilarating! Try it! It's like you're embracing life fully.

So many people are afraid of storms, but I love them. I love the flashes of lightning and the rain pounding and the wind blowing and the snow flying! I've had some very interesting trips during monstrous snow storms. The wildest one was a trip back from Watertown, NY after Thanksgiving. Thanks to turkey sandwiches and half a cranberry/peach pie (without sugar, another story) my sister-in-law, at the time, packed for us, we didn't starve. Thank you, Gloria.

When we left Watertown, we headed west toward Lake Erie. Neil had never seen any of the great lakes, so in Pennsylvania, when we got close, I took a side road and we drove straight to the lake. Once there, we got out and stood at the edge of a cliff looking out at the lake. There were great trees, their roots were out of the dirt. There was ice all over them and water slapping against the cliff. And the wind was blowing. It was very, very cold!

Before we got into Ohio, we were in a blizzard, the blizzard of 1977, some may remember. We were in my Opal GT. Remember those, very low to the ground, with the gas tank opening on top of the back end. No trunk. As I drove, we were in blinding snow and I could not even see the front of our car. I was driving in snow ruts with the snow rubbing the underside of the car. I was driving about 30 miles per hour and just praying nothing was stopped in front of me. Fortunately, not.

At one time, we sat on a clean highway for three hours. Neil had to go into a gas station for a cup of hot water to pour over the gas cap to get it open. We ate all the food and that sugarless cranberry/peach pie was delicious. (The recipe called for sugar in the ingredients but didn't tell the cook when to add it. So it wasn't added.)

I'll tell about the other wild snow storm trip some other time. Love that weather! I know sometimes property is damaged and people are killed. But if I survive, I love the energy.

Remember the Opal GTs.  My Opal had been painted a great kelly green. See, tiny!

(thanks to www.cougars-den.com/ for the photo)

Moving On

I'm not going to dwell on the loss of my friend, Barbara, but I do want to share some good stuff.

The Memorial Service last week was very nice. She would have really enjoyed it.

She painted and knitted and her daughter and others had brought several things she had knitted and painted. The minister who conducted the service knew her and they had had a good relationship. At one time, he pretended he had dropped something and bent over to pick it up saying, "Excuse me." When he stood back up, he had on a neon orange toboggan and scarf. The toboggan had a huge orange tassel hanging from the top of it. Barbara had made them for him for Christmas last year. The attendees loved it.

Her friend Bertha and I were asked to speak about her and the remarks were appreciated. There were several amusing remarks about her politics and political emails. Some had deleted all with out reading, some had deleted some without reading, and some had read them all.

It was so obvious that everyone loved her. I got to meet several people she had spoken of frequently, especially her aunt B and her cousin J.

I hope that my memorial service is as entertaining and leaves people feeling as good about life.

B, I love you and miss you.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone!

About 10 days ago, I had a chance to go to Atlanta to visit my sister at a hotel where she was in a training seminar. I didn't think I should go. I have a kitchen I'm trying to get together after remodeling. I've got painting to do, dishes to recabinet, and a pantry to arrange.
Finally I realized, I could go by and see Barbara a friend of 26 years and Bertha who has recently had some health problems that aren't out of the picture yet. I could also see Crystal Moon, but that seemed like too many things to try to get done in a 24 hour period.
Getting to see my friends was the turning point. I drove down on Tuesday morning, had lunch with Barbara as we drove over to Bertha's for a good visit. When we got back to Barbara's, I had to head into Buckhead. My sister and I had a great time visiting, eating at the Cheesecake Factory,  and reminiscing about our years living in Atlanta together. And a luxurious hotel didn't hurt.
The next morning after Rebecca headed down to class, I got myself together and got onto the highway. As I drove the opposite direction of the morning incoming traffic, I decided I had to go back by and visit a little more with Barbara. So I did. We sat and talked about 2 hours and caught up on the latest news. And I headed back to Middle Tennessee.
Once I was on the road and out of Atlanta, I got a phone call from Crystal Moon. She was also on 75 headed North about 25 miles ahead of me. So we stopped and had lunch together. What a treat! Visiting with Barbara for that 2 hours allowed up to have a special meet-up.
This was probably the best 36 hour trip I have ever had. Saw my sister and all my friends who live in Atlanta.
Yesterday, I was truly grateful for that visit with Barbara. I got an email that said she was gone. She had died early in the morning in her bedroom while she slept. I will sorely miss her. She was my yardstick, my confident, and my lifter-upper. Anytime we spoke on the phone when one of us was down, we'd both be laughing before we hung up. Barbara, I already miss you mightily and will always love you.

Can you hear me now?

I thought about starting this when I changed from employee to unemployee. Is that a word? Anyway, so many things have happened since then, I couldn't catch you up if I tried.

But here are the highlight: John has had 3 eye surgeries this summer; I sold my motorhome; We're remoding our kitchen; and I just spent 2 days in Atlanta.

You can see pictures of our kitchen and my front porch on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/profile.php?id=1364355181&v=photos. I updated those today. There are a couple from Atlanta.

I am also working on starting a business that will hopefully use all my talents or most of them, and will give me the variety my heart craves. I'll update everyone as I go along. This week I've been working on policies and procedures. I'm not sure about procedures, but I'm getting the policies down.

Feel free to comment on my comments or share with your friends.

Care for yourself, too!