Finally, there seems to be some good stuff happening around the BBB household.  There are still some issues...like putting my Mom in a nursing home is looming soon.  But, my head stuff is getting unraveled really well.  I am doing much much better!!  I don't feel like a screaming mimi idiot lunatic woman any more.  I am feeling like a "normal" person.  Well....as normal as I get.   Woooohoooo!! 

 

One good thing going on this week is the FAIR!!!   Yeeeehaw!!!  I love me some fair!!!  Give me some of that corn dog.  Umm....that apple sundae looks mighty tasty.  Fresh lemonade.....yeah!!  Pineapple whip???  Bring it on!!!  Look over there...it's fried s'mores!!  Can you say funnel cake....yummm yummmm!!!  Fried twinkie or fried snickers...hmmm.....wonder if those are good.   It's enough to put a person into  a food coma....mostly a fried food coma!!   There is just nothing as good as fair food.  Thank  God it only happens once a year.  All those good things are just full of trans fats.  Ya know.  The really really bad fats!!!  I love eating some of the good food and walking around looking at the exhibits and the barns.  No one will ride the rides with me.  Bunch of weeenies!!  I love riding rides.  Maybe I can find someone to ride with.  Also, there is some really good music to be heard on the different stages this year.  So I look forward to that.

 

The other good thing this week is it is premier week for lots of my fave shows.  Grey's Anat*my is on as we speak.  I am typing this in between during commercials.  Watched B*ston Legal last night and laughed my butt off.  Can't wait for Broth*ers and Sisters on Sunday.  Those are among my favorites.  So....it's a good time.  My favorite time of year.  I ordered a couple of Mums for my patio for a fund raiser for our Community Outreach center.  I figured they would be some little straggly looking things.  Well, I could not have been more wrong.  They were delivered to my offce today and they are huge and just covered with blooms yet to come.  I ordered the beautiful golden yellow colored ones.  I can hardly wait till they are in bloom!!  Lovely fall color for my patio.

 

Well, I guess I better get back to some serious TV watching!!  hehehe

 

Thanks for all the encouragement here lately.  It has meant all the world to me!!  You are good friends!!

 

Have a great weekend!  I am gonna go blog walk now!!

 

BBB

I need help from you all.  I need someone to (as Ricky Ricardo used to say) 'esplane it to me.  As I indicated in my last blog entry, this weekend, actually yesterday, was my Mom's birthday.  Bless her heart.  She is in end-stage liver disease.  Not from being an alcoholic.  It's just something she got.  I didn't know that could happen to people.  But it can.  Mom was never a heavy drinker, ever.  She rarely drank at all for most of my life.  Doctors cannot give us any explanation for how she contracted this disease.  She does very well considering her age and her disease.  We have her in hospice care so that my Dad can have help with her care.  We do not know how much longer we will have her with us.  She has really deteriorated healthwise this year.

 

So, on Friday, I place a call to my middle sister.  No answer.  This is not unusual.  Most of the time, she is there.  She just doesn't answer the phone.  Talk to her and she will tell you "I worked so hard this week and I am tired."  So because she works, all she wants to do is go home and not talk to anyone.  Not even her family.  This happens ALL. THE. TIME.  Like SHE is the only one in the WHOLE world who has to work!!!  Excuse me.  I WORK TOO!!    I KNOW about work and being tired.   So, I usually don't call her unless it is for something important.  Excuse me.  I kinda thought our Mom's birthday was important.  Anywho.  As usual, I get her answering machine.  I tell her she needs to call me so I can tell her plans for Mom's birthday.  Hubs and I were going to grill burgers and my other sister and her hubby were coming in.  I wanted all three of us girls there.  I waited a couple of hours and when she didn't return my call, I called again and still no answer.  So, I called my niece (her daughter).  She said, yeah, Mom is at home watching the ballgame (TU vs. OU) the big weekend game.  I told her my plans and she said that she and her Mom woud be going to see Mom on Sunday.  Niece had another obligation which was a big one.  Her other grandparents' 60th anniversary party.  They are great people and I sent my best wishes and I knew my niece would convey those.

 

Our cookout went great.  Mom said she wasn't hungry.  However, she at 3/4ths of her burger and two pieces of pie (we had two kinds because Mom really isn't crazy about cake anymore).  She actually stayed at my house for a couple of hours.  My nephew who is in the Navy and is now stateside called from Alabama.  He got to tell her he is engaged to be married.  I think Mom really enjoyed all the attention and presents and stuff.  Fast forward to yesterday evening.  I called my Dad to check on how Mom's day went.  He said she got her choice of anything she wanted to eat for lunch and a special dessert at the assisted living center where they live.  Mind you, it was about 8:00 p.m. when I called.  I asked did S and A (my sis and niece) have a good visit with Mom?  He says he hasn't HEARD A WORD FROM EITHER OF THEM!!   I thought I was going to blow a gasket!!  Who in the WORLD can be SO self absorbed and hateful that they cannot even make a phone call to their elderly Mother/Grandmother to tell her happy birthday!!  THAT.  JUST.  SUCKS!!!! BIGTIME!!!  I am so angry at my sister especially that I could just throttle her stupid, hateful, self-absorbed self!!!  How can she do that to our precious Mom??  Especially knowing that with her disease....each day is precious.  We may not have her for much longer.  How do you look yourself in the mirror after doing something like that??  

 

I. JUST. DON'T. GET. IT!!!!

 

Can someone explain it to me??

 

Sorry for the rant.  I am just so angry that I needed to vent about this.  I try not to expect much from my sister.  But this is just beyond excuse.  No ifs, ands or buts about it.  There is no excuse NOT to pick up the doggone phone and at least CALL!!! 

 

Okay.  I am done.  Finished.  Finito.  Sorry, but I just had to get that out somehow.

 

Thanks, my friends.   Have a great week!

 

BBB

 

 

P.S.  If YOU have a Mother out there.....CALL HER and tell her you love her!!  NOW I'm done.  I promise.  :)

Several weeks back there were several people who were "tagged" with the challenge to tell things about themselves that no one knew.  I was semi-sorta tagged by Madge.  Due to technical difficulties in my life I have kind of ignored that.  I have been thinking that it might be fun to give you folks a list.  I am not sure how many I can come up with or how many I was supposed to do, but I will give it a try.  Here we go.

 

1.   When I was little I was so limber and double jointed that I could lay on my stomach bend backwards and touch the tops of my toes to the top of my head (think donut).  Oy!  To be that limber now!

 

2.   Also, when I was very little, I didn't walk flat footed.  I would curl my toes under and walk.  Think kinda lika a ballerina without the shoes on.  Weird, I know.

 

3.   Back in the "old days" we had water coolers before air conditioners.  Ours was in a very high window and we climbed on it alot like the monkey children we were.  My sister dared me to jump off and land on a certain patch of grass.  I did.  It is the only time I have broken a bone.  I broke my wrist.  She got a spankin.

 

4.   My favorite song when I was a kid was Hank Williams Jr. "Hey Good Lookin'"  My folks had the 45.  For you youngsters go ask what that is.  I played that record CONSTANTLY and sang to anyone who would listen.  The record mysteriously "disappeared"!!   Go figure!!

 

5.   I had a best friend in junior high and high school, a little bitty bit of a girl, who could (and did) belch peoples names, and sometimes complete sentences.  She belched "Happy Birthday to you" to me on my 16th birthday and I was impressed!!

 

6.   My cousin once made me eat a "turkey fry" and it made me barf.  Those things are knarly!! 

 

7.   My senior year in high school, I was voted to the equivalent of "Who's Who" in our school.  Only the year I graduated, they called them the "Tower Awards".  I was highly disappointed.

 

8.   I have always been a pretty good singer.  I was always in the top choruses in high school.

 

9.   I have never really learned how to swim well (not a good thing with all the lakes in Oklahoma).  I can float forever though.  But I never learned how to dive either.

 

10.   I was a "sorority chick" in college.  I was in the "regular" girls sorority.  The ones who weren't the prettiest or most popular, but the most fun and the nicest girls on campus.

 

11.   My University was named the numer one party school in the U.S.   Several times.  Let's just say that I know why.  ;)

 

12.   I didn't have my first "real boyfriend" till I was in college.  Never dated in high school.   Not one boyfriend.

 

13.   I had lots of "guy friends" all my life.  But not that many "boyfriends".  It used to frustrate the heck out of my sisters!!

 

14.   I have been to Guyana, South America four times on mission trips with my church. 

 

15.   I have only been on one cruise in my life.  It was to the Carribean and it was lovely.  Sure would like to do another one someday.

 

16.   I used to be a "wild woman" when I was in my 20's and early thirties.  Partying was the name of the game.  I am so lucky I survived intact....for the most part.   hehehe

 

17.   I was an excellent country dancer.  I am still good friends with my favorite dance partner from that time period.   He's probably one of the reasons I survived the partying alluded to in No. 16.   He always "had my back"!!

 

18.   I have ridden a Harley all the way to Sturgis, South Dakota and back, also touring the Black Hills, the Badlands and Devil's Tower, Wyoming on that trip.

 

19.   I am a people watcher.  I can do it for hours.

 

20.   Do NOT give me a book, ever, if you expect me to accomplish much of anything before I finish the book.  I have always been a "book worm."   

 

21.   If you make a mistake and give me a book, don't try to talk to me unless I am looking you directly in the eyes.  You MUST get my attention from the book or I will not hear a word you say.

 

22.   I am a disorganized person who would LOVE to be organized.  My brain just isn't wired for organization.  Man I hate that!

 

23.   I bought my very first home when I was only 23 years old and single.  It had green shag carpet throughout....which I loved.  That's just plumb scary to think about now.

 

24.   There is not an artistic bone anywhere in my body.  I am just not good at decorating or doing artsy crafty kinds of things.  I have to have BFF help me when I want to do decorating.

 

25.   Since I am NOT artsy craftsy, I love to go to craft shows and buy stuff.  Anyone heard of Warr Eagle in Arkansas??  Google it.  It's coming up and it's A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!!!

 

26.   My favorite toy when I was very little was a teddy bear that plays Brahm's Lullaby that my Aunt got me.  That bear is sitting on a bookshelf at the end of our hallway!!

 

27.   My two favorite sandwiches while I was growing up were a)  fried bologna with mustard; and b) sliced radishes with mayo.  I said before....I know I am weird!!

 

28.   My other favorite "food group" unfortunately has always been donuts.  Especially the creme filled ones.  I never met one I didn't like and still haven't and probably never will.

 

29.   I remember hearing my parent's best friends' daughter telling someone that I was "a spoiled rotten little devil brat child."  I still think of that every time I see her....which thankfully is not often.

 

30.   I make the absolute best homemade apple pies, which I learned at the side of my beloved grandmother.  Don't ask me for a recipe.  There isn't one!

 

31.   A lot of my favorite dishes that I make do not have recipes.  I cook like grandmother.  And I am messy!!

 

32.   I rarely had to take physical education classes when I was in school because I was so sickly and was allergic to most everything.  I was a couch potato in the making!

 

33.   My favorite color is any shade of purple...what a shock, huh?

 

34.   One of the most fun things I have done with co-workers was play Mud Volleyball to benefit the United W*y.

 

35.   I have an extensive "Beany B*by" collection which I started for my first granddaughter.  I am thinking of donating them to a pediatric unit at one of the hospitals.

 

36.   I collect santas, reindeers and "Blue Sky" pottery; oh and also watches.  I love watches.

 

Well, folks it is getting late and I have probably bored you to tears.  If I can think of anything else later, I might add to my list.  I am gonna have a busy weekend.  It is my Mom's 83rd birthday Sunday.  My sis and BIL are coming in and we are gonna celebrate tomorrow.  I have to bake pies for the church pie auction.  We are going to a concert tomorrow evening.  Then Sunday is church and the spaghetti dinner/pie auction.  Whew!!  I am tired already!!  But it shall be fun!!

 

Enjoy your weekend folks!

 

BBB

I want to thank all my blog friends for your kind words and encouragement about J and about my "head stuff".  I knew before I began my blog, because I had been visiting many of you as a "lurker" that there are some amazing people here in blog land.  I will be really honest and say that I am seeking some professional help with my "head stuff" and I am already feeling much improved.  We have a ways to go, but I am certain I will get there.  My therapist is just a wonderful Christian lady.  It was important to me to meet with someone who looks at things from a Christian perspective, because I feel strongly about having God as the center of my life.  I have gotten away from that.  I have sort of lost my way and been feeling disconnected in many ways.  So we are working on that and some other things in my head.  I will also admit that this isn't the first time I have sought help.  The last time I did so was 14 years ago when I went through my divorce.  I was dealing with being jobless for the first time in my adult life, my Mom was in the hospital and I didn't know if she was going to live or die, and my marriage was in shambles.  To say that I was an absolute MESS and wreck would be an understatement.  At that time I was lucky to find another  Christian therapist (she is no longer in practice) who let me pay her next to nothing because I didn't have any money at the time.  She was just so wonderful and really helped me get my life back.  So I know from experience that counseling works.  At least it has for me.  I feel no shame that I need some help with my head.  I think most of us, if we are honest, will admit that we have lost our way at one time or another.  Life sometimes gets hard.  Sometimes things happen that we just can't get our heads around.  I truly believe that God provides people with the skills to help us sort these things out and make sense again.  So that is where I am at my friends.  I am truly thankful that I am able to go get the help I need at this juncture of my life.   My counselor tells me that I am a "strong" woman.  My previous counselor said the same thing.  I just haven't felt very strong lately.  I have just been a little overwhelmed.  But, as I said, I am already seeing some things differently.  I am processing some things differently already.  And, in my case, that is a good thing.  What is that saying....sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees.  So I am in learning mode here.  I am hopeful.  I will be better and I will feel strong again.  I just know it.

 

I said all this, I guess to say that if you are ever in the position where you feel like I have felt, ask for help.  It is out there.  Make a few calls like I did.  Find someone to help you sort out your head.  It's okay.  It's okay to have these times.  We all do.  Do we all process them the same way?  No.  Certainly not.  But there are tools out there and people out there to help you.   Don't ever give up!!  Don't lose hope!!  I haven't and I hope to never do so.

 

Thanks for being my friends.  You don't know how much your encouragement helps.  And to just visit and get a little humor in some of the blogs is just wonderful.  Next blog I will try to update you all  on my quest to be healthy and semi-buff!!  That is going well.  Actually, the physcial workouts have helped me immensely.

 

Have a good evening friends!

 

Till next time,

 

BBB

We had a wonderful visit yesterday with J.  He looked amazingly good.  It is always good to see those sparkling blue eyes of his and his beautiful smile.  That is the J I love dearly!!  We sat with him for two hours and just caught up on what's been going on out in the world.  At one point J told us almost exactly how many days he has left to serve on his sentence.  He can also tell you how many long, long days he has already served.  We keep encouraging him to hang in there, do the right things and he is on the downhill  side of this thing.  I know it is hard because he tells us some of the things that go on around him.  He says he just tries to fly under the radar and do what he's supposed to.

 

I looked around the visitation room yesterday and it was heartbreaking.  The room was full to capacity with Moms, Dads, girlfriends, wives, and children.  It was the children that got me.  Little ones visiting Dad in prison.  I just sat and watched those men holding their  children, playing with them, hugging and kissing them.  And the parting when they had to leave was just heart rending.   I had to wonder if those little ones will have a chance for a happy life.  I hope so.  But the odds are stacked against them in a lot of ways because Dad isn't there.  When they get older I am sure there will be more realization of just what it all means.   I also realized yesterday that each and every person in that room has a story.  I know we do.  I looked at a young man seated at the next table visiting with a woman.  He had two huge scars on his neck that looked like he'd had his throat slit.  Now, that man surely has a story.  The young man who came out to a wife or girlfriend and a little girl.  He had cut his hair with a little top knot.  Wife/girlfriend and little one had to touch it and tease him about it.  They all laughed about it.  They have a story.  The Mom who obviously comes so often to see her son that the guards know her by name and holler hi to her the minute she walks in.  She has a story.    I was just profoundly sad yesterday looking at all those young men.  Young sons, brothers, husbands, dads.  Who have somehow gotten lost in this world.  They have probably done horrible things.  They are the kind of people that most people would be scared to death of.  You wouldn't much want them for neighbors or friends.  But they are someone's son, brother, husband, etc.  Lost souls.   I pray for them because I know what it is like to love one of those men dearly.   I know what it is like to hope and pray that your loved one gets his life back on course and becomes productive and happy.  I know what it is like.  So when I pray for J, I will say a little prayer for these guys and the people who love them anyway and always.

 

On a brighter  note and I think I need one after that part of my post.  Hubs and I did a little exploring after we left the facility.  We went to a nearby town called Medicine Springs.  What a lovely little town it was.  Their sign on the entry to the town said it was the first settlement of cobblestone houses in Oklahoma.  At every turn were the absolute cutest little houses made of those stones.  There was a "poker run" in town visiting so there were motorcycles everywhere.  We did find a place to park though and wandered through their little downtown area.  I found a couple of neat gifts and purchased them.  The "springs" that run through the town looked clear and lovely.  Me thinks that we will do some more exploring in that area next trip to see J.

 

One thing I do when I travel to places I have never been is to observe the names of their convenience stores.  In Miami, Oklahoma, they have the "Shout 'n Sack".  In Arkansas, and now here, they have my personal  favorite "Kum and Go".  Yeah....I'm not kidding on that one.   In the area where we were this weekend, the convenience store de jour was the "Hop 'n Sack".  I know.  I'm weird.  But the names people come up with just fascinate me.   I am a city girl and I am used to my Quik Tr*p, which, in my opinion, are the best convenience stores around.  Just MHO.

 

Oh.....and I  gotta tell ya.  When we pulled into the Lawton area friday night, we needed a few groceries.  So where did we go but to W*lMart.  Along with every other person in Lawton evidently.  I have never seen so many people in one W*lMart....ever......and I frequent them often.  Anywho....we walk in the door and I go for a cart.  Hubs grabs my arm, points a direction and says "Do  you recognize her??" while pointing at a young woman a few feet away.  I about fell over.  It was a young (now) woman who I  sorta adopted as a "daughter" when her folks officed across the hall from where I work.  H used to visit her folks every day after school and she always came to see me and say hi.  She even calls me "Mom".  Not only was she there, but her Mom, who I haven't seen in forever, and H's three, yes, three children were there.  Hubs says he can't take me ANYWHERE that I don't run into someone I know.  He just gave me that look and said, "told ya!!  You've never been to Lawton before....but look who's here!!"  I had to laugh.  Anyway, H and her hubby, who is serving at Ft. Sill, have just had their third child.  She now has three really cute boys.  Boy does she have her hands full though!!  It was so good to visit with her and her Mom.  They are just really great people that I think the world of.  H seems happy and peaceful.  Well, as peaceful as you can be with three kids under the age of 7.  hehehehe

 

So, folks.  That was my weekend.  I hope each of you had a blessed one!!

 

Til next time!

 

BBB

 

Yepper.  Hubs and I are out in the country as I write this.  We are camping along the edge of the Wichita Mountains in southern Oklahoma.  Actually, just outside of Lawton, and on the northern edge of Fort Sill.  We had to check in at a guard gate and they searched the camper and we had to give them our ID.  That's a new experience for me.  The hills around here are really beautiful.  The temp is in the 50's this morning, so we didn't even have to run the air conditioner last night.   Perfect camping weather folks!!  I absolutely love fall.  I am looking across the camp at a smaller version of our camper.  And they seem to have  a lot more people in that camper.  Whew!!  Must be close quarters!!

 

This morning we will be going to visit my step-son who is in a correctional facility near here.  It will be my first time to see him in over a year.  I am really looking forward to hugging his neck.  J is one of the best looking young men, and really sweet, but who got caught up in drugs.  He did some really stupid and bad things to support his habit.   He truly lost his way in this world.  Thus, where he now finds himself.  Truthfully, there were times in the past, when he was on drugs, that I was scared of him.   I was also scared of the people he ran with.  For many of hubs and my early years, J and I didn't get along well.  He was angry with me because he felt if I hadn't come along, his mom and dad would have gotten back together.  A feeling that hubs' ex fostered in his head.  But since his incarceration and subsequently being "clean" of the drugs, he has apologized to me.  We now have a pretty good relationship.  He knows without a doubt, that I love him.  Do I approve of what he has done?  No, absolutely not.  But, he knows that I have hopes that he will turn his life around and become the man I know he could be.   In the six years that he has been incarcerated, his mom hasn't been to visit him.  NOT. EVEN. ONCE.  Some kinda mom, huh?  I think she may have sent him one or two cards.  That's it.  To say that things are bad in that arena would be an understatement.  J has about 4 more years to serve.  They will most likely be spent here, where we will visit him today.  He is just now getting to the point in his time where he qualifies to take classes to learn a trade to help him when he is released.  I know this will sound bad.  But his Dad and I hope that when he gets out, he lives somewhere far away from us....only so he will not fall in with his old "buddies" if you know what I mean.    It has been heart breaking dealing with J over the years.  As I said, when he isn't on drugs, he is the sweetest, funniest, loving person.  Unfortunately, we have seen first hand the devastating toll that drug addiction can take.  My prayer is that J will not go back to that life.  He says he wants to get married someday and have a family.  I pray those things for him.  He will be young enough when he is released to build that kind of life should he desire to do so.  From his lips to God's ears on that one.

 

Folks, I am sorry I have been so sporadic on posting lately.  Stuff's been going on in the BBB household.  Stuff with my head and heart.  But I am doing better.  I am working on my "head" stuff.  My heart is where it has firmly been since about 1993.  I like it right where it is.  Now, I just have to clear the cobwebs from the head and get my thinking clearer.  It will happen.  I will get there.  One day at a time.

 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend my friends!!  I will try to catch up with each of my blog buds later!!

 

God bless all!

 

BBB

I know I have been absent all week as far as blogging goes.   It wasn't the best week I've ever lived through, but hey, it's over and it's the weekend, so I made it through. 

 

Last weekend, after the kids picked up the grandkids, hubby and I set out to visit an old friend.  We were looking to find Golden Dove's ex-hubby.  You remember the Dove, right?  My college roomy?  I still stay in touch with R, her ex, from  time to time.  I will always love him, even if things didn't work out for them.  For most of the years the Dove and R were married, they lived in what used to be out in the country, in a nearby town.  They had ten acres with a mobile home that they added onto and made it look like a house.  They had horses and dogs, raised Araconte chickens (for the colored eggs) and also  raised pygmy goats for a time.  When R and the Dove divorced, she kinda walked away from all that and R ended up keeping the old place.  I had talked with him a few months back and he told me he sold the old place to a developer and he was moving not far away.  Now, being  as that conversation took place a while back and my memory isn't so good about his directions to the new place, we set out to find R.  We followed the well known route to the old place.  Turn off such and such highway, go to the first quarter section line and turn left, proceed about 1/4 of a mile and there you are.  I must say that there was little familiar once we turned at the section line.  The "old place" and the barns and the ponds have been bullldozed and they are putting in the infrastructure for the housing addition that will soon occupy the acreage.  We headed on down the road, which  is a dead end, to turn around.  On the way, lo and behold, I spotted "T" a friend of R and the Dove's.  T and his wife, M, and other neighbors down the road, used to all gather at the old place and play very lively games of pictionary when it first came out.  The men ALWAYS cheated by the way, looking more like they were playing Charades than pictionary, because none of them were able to draw worth a hoot!  They also would very sneakily move their game piece on the board if you didn't watch their sorry selves!!   But, I digress.  We stopped the truck and hollared at T.  He invited us to come sit on the porch and visit with him and M for a spell, which we did.  I always lilked this couple, especially because M is one of the absolute funniest women I have ever met.  What you see is what you get with her and she always calls a spade a spade whether you like it or not.  She's not rude.....just outspoken.  And funny as all get out.  M came out and we sat and reminisced about the old times with R and the Dove.  They had lost track of the Dove, but said yes, they did know where R had moved and told us how to find him.  We weren't in any hurry so we just sat and visited a while.  As I sat there visiting, I remembered when R was just so excited when we came to visit one time and couldn't wait to telll us about a new purchase T had made.  He had bought a "spotted jumping mule"  R tells us.  I am lookin' at him  thinkin' that he is pulling this city girl's leg...  Surely, there is no such thing, and I said as much.  R says "no....come on an I'll show you!!"  So up the road we went to T's and sure enough, there in the pasture was a spotted mule.   I remember that the mule was red and T named him "Rojo",which means red in spanish.   R proceeded to explain that these mules can jump just about anything, including fences.  Ummmm....doesn't it make it a little hard to keep them anywhere I asked?  R says, well that's half the fun of having one.  Finding them when they jump fence and stuff.  What the????  Okay....if that's your definition of fun, well go for it Tonto!!  Not long after that, we were informed that R had his very OWN spotted jumping mule.  Wow!!  I think the novelty wore off pretty quickly because R's mule just couldn't be kept on the place.  True to form, he  jumped every fence and obstacle they could erect.  Then it became that *amn spotted jumping mule!!  Anywhoooo.

 

We had such a nice time visiting with T and M, said our goodbyes and headed out to find R.  Sure enough, he had only moved about a half a mile up the road to another 10 acres with yet another mobile home that he has fixed up very nicely.  Luckily, R was home so we were able to visit a while.  He is raising his grandson D who I could not believe is now in the 5th grade.  D's Mom, R's daughter, pretty much abandoned him when he was just a little feller.  R has had him  ever since.  He is just one of the  most polite children.  Very soft spoken and looks so much like his Mom that it is uncanny.  R and D just have a very nice little thing going.  They raise hunting beagles.  Didn't realize there was such a thing, but they are good hunting dogs, especially to hunt squirrels.  Who woulda thunk!!  So, R and D hunt and fish and ride their horses and D even helps R with his grading work (preparing lots for building homes on and to put sod down on later on).  R and I really don't speak of the Dove very often.  I think it is still painful for  him.  But I just remember the old times so well when I  see R.  Like the time I drove to the old place to visit one hot sunny afternoon, pulled up, and there was the Dove out by the pasture, working on the fence.  I mosied over and looked down at her and said "Where's R and why isn't he out here helpin you in this blazin sun?"  To which the Dove replied, "Well, he was out here trying to tell me how to do this, and I told him that I sure as *ell didn't need him to tell me how to repair a fence and why didn't he just take his sorry *ss into the house and leave me alone!!"  Well, who could argue with THAT!!  R certainly knew better than to argue.  We found him sitting in the air conditioned house, drinking a beer and watching TV and as he said "I'm just doin' as I was told!!"  and he laughed that crazy laugh of his.   As you may or may not remember from earlier posts, Dove is a coaches daughter, with two brothers who were coaches.  She would proudly tell you that she could do anything that they could.  And truly, she could hold her own in just about any situation.  She was fearless and bulletproof!!  She was very self sufficient and rarely needed R's help with chores. 

 

I also remember the Dove telling me about when she and R and their daughter C were in the old farm truck, heading out in the pasture to do some work one day.  They had all  the windows in the truck down.  C was only about 2 at the time and was riding in the middle with R at the wheel.  All of a sudden, a bee flew in R's window.  Now in the blink of an eye, R, with the truck still running, screamed like a girl, opened the door of the truck and BAILED out!!!  The Dove had to crawl over C and take the wheel and bring the truck to a stop!!  Yepper!!  Big, tough, cowboy R was afraid of the bee!!!  We like to never let him live that  one down!!  Anytime I visit R I can't help remembering those days.  We are all older.  He is just leading  a quiet life raising the grandson he loves more than life.  I love him dearly for stepping in and taking on that task when D had no one.  It was wonderful to catch up with R and know that he's doing okay.

 

The times with the Dove and R were good times, always treasured in my memories.   The friendships have changed some and the original players have changed, but the friendships endure.  To me, that is what life is all about folks.  Love of family and treasured friends.  Building the tapestry of our lives, one memory at a time.

 

Have a good weekend all!

 

BBB

We just had our two oldest grandhildren and our granddog for the weekend.  If you ever want an interesting time, just keep a couple of "tweens" for the weekend.  It is a real eye-opener.  I was able to just observe them and how they view just about everything. 

 

Observations.....

 

Tween one states:  I don't eat breakfast ever cause it makes me feel sick to my stomach..so I don't ever eat it. 

Translation:  I don't LIKE to eat breakfast if it is cereal or unless it is something I really like.  We took her to breakfast this morning and she at like there was NO tomorrow.

 

Both tweens LOVE Be*t Buy.  We finally just turned them loose.  It was amazing to watch them go to computers and just start plunkin away and playing games, playing the musical instruments, and watching as if transfixed in another dimension while standing in front of a 60" big screen TV.  Actually, it wasn't just our tweens who exhibited this last trait.  I saw grown men who stood absolutely transfixed and in altered states of consciousness in front of those things!!

 

Absolutely everything about staying with the grandparents is "boring" to a tween....from swimming in the pool, to going to Riverwalk.  And don't even metion going to Hom* Depot!!  The loudest cries of the weekend came when we teasingly said that was our next stop!!  Cries of "but we go there at LEAST five times a week!!"....which probaby isn't much of an exaggeration since SIL is a building/remodel contractor.

 

There are still sweet moments even with a tween.  Like baking choc chip cookies together.  Or painting of fingernails.  Or discussing make-up that tween 1 will soon begin to wear.  One really funny moment came when tween one tried to proved just how many jalapeno's she could eat and no she did NOT need more Cola to do so.  Luckily Grams told the waitress to bring another and she showed up JUST in the nick of tme as someone's face was turning quite red!!

 

Our only grandson is showing us glimpses of the young man he is becoming.  Middle school  quarter back, protective big brother to the littlest one, a slap stick comedian with a quick wit.  Handsome too already!!  And quite smart and willing to point out big sis's "blond" moments with glee!!

 

Yep, it was a good weekend.  We are off to just have some grown up time.  I will be back later to visit my blog buds.

 

Till then,

 

BBB