Unexpected pleasures in unexpected places

It doesn't take much to make me happy. That is a good thing. Something happened this week, such a small thing really, but here is the story. As I was going to my mail box I noticed what looked like a stem (looked like a weed) growing next to my driveway. I looked at it and walked on. The next day it had grown to the size of probably a foot in height and looked like a bud of a flower had formed. I became interested and yesterday when I went out the most beautiful collection of four very small, delicate orchid/pink lilies had blossomed plus another plant right beside it that was getting ready to bloom. My yard boy and I had a talk about it, and believe it or not he was as intrigued as I. We decided that a bird had dropped a seed either in the fall or spring and it took root and made me this lovely plant. I will cut it today and bring it into the house and enjoy it as long as it decides to live. The point I make as I tell you this story is that the small, unexpected things in life can bring joy and happiness if we will take time to seek them out.

When I was in my twenties, thirties, forties and probably my fifties I was so caught up in doing the things that I thought was essential for raising children, taking care of a home, taking care of my husband and working at a job that I missed a lot of things. I thought that supper had to be cooked and served at 6:00PM. I thought the house had to be cleaned each week until it sparkled and smelled clean. I thought I had to please everybody. In other words I couldn't distinguish between the important and the urgent. My mother used to say "don't cry over spilled milk" so I don't beat myself up over what was or what ifs or what could have beens . I can't undo or redo the past and I have to say "I did the best that I could at that time in my life" and go on, but I have learned that it is okay if I spend the day reading a book or scrap booking and making a big mess on the floor with pieces of paper and stuff. I have learned that I can't be burdened down with feeling guilty over things that I absolutely can't do. Some think that I over commit myself and get too involved in too many things but I feel that I should be thankful that God has allowed me to be involved in so many things that I enjoy and am interested in as long as I don't forget to keep looking for the beauty of a stray flower.

As usual, this will be a big important week in my life - my precious granddaughter, Courtney, turns seventeen, my grandson, Patrick, will be buying his first house which is a big important undertaking, I will be babysitting my great-grandson, Cord, for the first time, Lauren will be spending the week-end at home and I will see her, my granddaughter-in-law, Ashley in Jackson, MS will be celebrating a birthday. Maddux had his tonsils removed and he is recovering rapidly. So many lovely things happen for me every week for which I thank my God every day. There was a bumper sticker that was very popular several years ago that said Carpe Diem and I offer that to you for your consideration as you live your life.

I love life

It's Sunday night and I am tired - but it is a good tired! If you can understand that statement. My week-end has been full (so was my week) but I have laughed, cried, sang, heard corny jokes, seen people that I haven't seen in a long time and some that I have seen recently and all in all it was a good week-end. It started on Friday with my errand running, manicure and pedicure appointments, and cleaning my house - even to washing the big window in my living room inside and outside. Maybe all of that doesn't sound so inviting but I do love the looks of a house after it has been cleaned and has that good smell and that pleasant look. Even my green plants seemed to be more perky than before. I had agreed to help Barbara Lutz's children give a 75th Birthday Party for Barbara and the activities started for me on Friday night. I agreed to make chicken salad puffs for the buffet table and I began the chopping and mixing and getting ready for the task to be completed on Saturday. After breakfast on Saturday morning I began stuffing these little pastry puffs and made 150 of them, ending around 1:30PM. After a short, very short, rest on the sofa I got myself ready and all of the things I had to pack to take to the party venue, which was the Alumni House, and left home about 3:45PM. When I got to the scene of the party I found a bunch of young people laughing, cooking, moving furniture, steaming table cloths and having a marvelous time. Of course I entered the gaiety and it was a delightful time with preparations until 5:00PM when everything was ready, the musicians were in place and playing wonderful music and the birthday girl arrived. She was just overwhelmed at all of the posters, banners, music, people, food and just the whole thing. To put it all in one short sentence - the party was a huge success.

This morning I was just plain tired. I did something that is so foreign to me to do - I skipped Sunday School. I did go to worship and then to Kim's house for lunch. She was not having a wonderful day - lots of pain today - but she was glad (I think) that I came. We had a lovely lunch and then we got down to work on two posters that I had been wanting to make for the school. One was of the graduation and one was of the golf tournament that I have written about. She laughed at my lack of skill in putting construction paper backing on the pictures. She calls it "mounting the pictures" and I am very pathetic in doing anything that requires you to get something straight on a piece of paper. It always seems to end up crooked. I think that I have never been able to see straight. Billy and I had some doozies of arguments over hanging pictures because I would tell him the picture was straight, he would hammer the nail in the wall, hang the picture, step back and scream at me because it was crooked. How glad I was to have Ray and Nita become the official picture hangers of the Cline family. They have probably saved lots of marriages.

Patrick came to visit his mother and that was a real treat for his grandmother. I just never tire of seeing Patrick or talking to him or, for that matter, just looking at him. He is so sweet and so easy to love. He is negotiating to buy a house and he is quite excited over it - excited and nervous at the same time. It is a big step for a young, single man to accept the financial responsibility and the physical and other responsibilities of owning a home. I know that he will meet the challenge, but right now it is pretty overwhelming. Several in the family have already offered to help him move and I'm sure that before it is over many of us will get into the act. I am happy to say that whenever anyone in the family needs help the other members appear and the job is done in rapid time. Patrick has helped many of his family to move and I'm sure that they will reciprocate. Anyway, we had a good time talking and visiting and I left him and his mother to do laundry, eat dinner, and do what they do every Sunday and that is to watch Big Brother.

To most of you this week-end probably doesn't sound so wonderful but to me it was great. I love parties. I love seeing friends. I love being with good people. I love talking to my girls on the phone. I love working on a project with Kim. I hope that I can remember how to finish this blog and get the pictures on it because if I can't she will shake her head and say "oh Mother - really" like she does when I forget what she told me. I love visiting with my grandson. I guess I just love life and that is something that I am proud of.

A New Page

Whew! Another traumatic week has gone by. As much as I would like to "turn back time" (Cher's song) I am glad that this past week is over and I have a new page to write.

Ray, my son-in-law that is more like my son, had a heart procedure that was supposed to be "go into Vanderbilt at 6:30AM, have the procedure that will last approximately six hours, rest over night and come home the next morning". That absolutely was so far from what really occurred. His heart, that was supposed to be in rhythm and stay in rhythm lasted not even 24 hours until he was setting off signals to the attendants and they were hovering in his room to make sure that he was going to be okay. Poor Nita - she had no idea what was going on and of course she was quite nervous. Ray, on the other hand was enjoying the results of a sleeping pill so he more or less just slept through it all and maybe that was a very good thing. Anyway, to make this long story short - meds have been changed, he is at home and planning to work a few hours today and go back on Wednesday to have his heart put back in rhythm one more time and hopefully it will "stay put" this time. It seems like nothing is simple any more. Why is that I wonder.

Saturday was a great day for me. Corinne and I went to Crossville to attend the wedding of my great-niece. We had a lovely lunch and used their rest room facility to change into my "wedding attire" and then we went to the church. It was a big,l very pretty Baptist Church on the Main Street in Crossville, TN. We were a little early so I sat down in a comfortable chair in the lobby while Corrinne went to the car to bring in our present. When my nephew, Mark Rainey, saw me he came running to me with this great big smile and (moist eyes) gave me a real sure enough "bear hug". He did the same for Corinne when she came back. We sat an visited with him, and his wife, Karen, and their two children, Allie and Kyle, until time to go into the sanctuary to be seated. We sat in the Family Section like we were really big wheels. Kristen, the bride, was just adorable and she and her father came down the aisle - she smiling; he with the "moist eyes again". After the wedding everyone was treated to a beautiful spread of food, wedding cake and punch or iced tea at tables in the lobby and Mark, Corinne and I had another good visit. As the reception ended and the couple, Kristen and Toby, left amid a shower of bird seed, Corinne and I decided that we would skip the next event - a dinner to start at 6:30 - and come on back home. I am so glad that we did because we got home around 6:30 and after stopping at the grocery for some things I needed we had a whole evening to recuperate from the drive and the days events. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

Mark is my brother's youngest son and next to the youngest child. He has two older brothers and a younger sister. It is hard for me to believe that none of the above mentioned siblings was there. My brother, Ronald, was raised by the same mother and aunt that I was and he had the same values of family instilled in him that I did, but he married a woman that did not carry the same values into the marriage. Therefore, those children are not close to each other, and in fact some have not shared a conversation in years nor do they have any idea what the other one is doing, thinking, needing or anything. How very sad I think that is. My girls on the other hand are so very different. They love each other, they talk to each other with regularity, they suffer with each other, they rejoice with each other, they cry together, they laugh together, they treasure family times when they are all together. Each woman has a very busy, very varied lifestyle but they always have time to stop their world long enough to minister to one of their sisters when the occasion warrants it. Therefore, it is so foreign to me when I see other families who are estranged, who have disowned a child or sister or brother, who is not interested in their sibling's lives or children and it just makes me get on my poor old worn out knees and that God that the thread of love that runs throughout my family is so strong and I pray that nothing ever changes.

I ended up the week with an afternoon visit with my friend, Barbara's, daughter-in-laws who are planning a 75th birthday party for her this week-end. They were planning the food, the venue and all of the arrangements. It is going to be a gala time and I am happy to be a part of it. I do love parties and especially celebration parties such as birthdays, weddings, new babies, etc.

So, after an eventful week of worry over my son, attending a wedding, planning a party - these things amid my regular wee activities I am pulling out a new page, getting ready to write another story and have a grand time. I look forward to each and every new day as an adventure and a big surprise package. This week will see Ray have a birthday, Nita and Ray have an anniversary, Barbara's party and in between my work at DLC, my Alumni meeting, my scrap booking project taking shape, Patrick's house closing and maybe his moving, and who knows just what else will be written on my New Page.

Better Late Than Never (I Hope)

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/Sd9DW4ge
Click on this link for slideshow of the trip!

As I told you some time ago, I was waiting for pictures to accompany this story. Well, one picture was put on here for you to see and the rest will follow soon because I now have the pictures that really do tell the story. This story is probably as close to a Fairy Tale as I have ever been involved with. On Easter Sunday Courtney put on my calendar for June 6-9 "Beach with Tracey and Courtney". They were going to Destin, Florida for a wedding and that was my invitation. The time finally arrived and on Thursday, the 5th, we loaded all of our "stuff" into Tracey's van and away we went down the highway at 7:00AM. Such a happy, pretty day to be riding down I-65. We stopped for a bite of breakfast at McDonalds and then on to the Peach Park for lunch and then on to Destin. Tracey drove, I was the navigator and we only made a couple of wrong turns - no big deal - and Courtney laughed at us. Driving across the big bridge and seeing the water and realizing that I was in Destin, Florida again made me so happy. There is absolutely no place on earth that holds the memories that I love or gives me more pleasure than Destin. When Tracey drove up in front of our place to stay, the Emerald Grande, I knew that the Fairy Tale had begun. We were given our room keys for our condo on the 11th floor and we walked into the most elegant of all places - living room with dining table, full complete kitchen, three bedrooms, two full baths (bathrooms bigger than my living room here on Freda Villa) and a balcony off of the bedroom and a balcony off of the living room looking down on the pool area and also the beach. How much more could I possibly ask for? Stonie and Jenny O'Briant's daughter, Kristin, had chosen this site for her wedding. Coincidentally, her father and mother own a condo in this facility so it was not new to her. The first evening was a hamburger-hot dog cook out around the pool and a fireworks display that was exactly like the ones we used to see on the 4th of July when the family came to Destin. Each morning breakfast was served in a private room for all of the guests. A boat was chartered to take us out in the harbor to see the dolphins. All of the wedding party which consisted of men and women in their 20's laughing, teasing, joking and having a wonderful time entered into everything that had been planned for their enjoyment and Tracey, Courtney and I were included in all the arrangements also. Since we were free on Friday night because the wedding party was having their rehearsal and dinner, we did a very nostalgic thing. We went to The Back Porch and had seafood nachos. Talk about memories and lots of conversation that started with "do you remember when we came here and...." I felt like I had stepped back in time and expected to see Billy come in the door any minute. I even bought T-Shirts for Courtney and Carter like I used to do when they were little. Such a fun, wonderful night. Saturday was spent by the pool. Courtney and Tracey got wonderful sun tans. Part of the fairy tale was the way Tracey catered to my every wish. I said I would like to have a certain drink (Mudslide) and the next thing I knew it was in my hand. Tracey decided that I needed to get out of the sun so she arranged to have an umbrella put beside my chair and tilted at just the right angle to make me comfortable. Time for the wedding came on Saturday evening and we put on all of our fine wedding attire and went down by the pool where the white chairs were set up and a lot of people were seated while a man played a classical guitar. When Kristen and Jason were pronounced Man and Wife everybody opened an envelope that they had been given and butterflies flew out. What a sight to behold - hundreds of butterflies flying all around the couple. I had never seen that done before and it really impressed me. The reception was just "to die for" - a whole table of shrimp - thousands of shrimp!!!! Prime Rib, Lamb chops, Vegetables, Fruits, Chicken wings and little legs, anything and everything to drink or eat that you could imagine. The party lasted quite a while and I left Tracey and Courtney and the others to continue line dancing and laughing and having a ball while I indulged myself one last time in the huge bath tub and the comfort of the biggest bed - I do believe it was a double king size-I have ever slept in. Sunday morning came and we packed up and left this perfectly ideal place for our journey home. Coming home was not quite as jolly as going down to say the least. We went to the Donut Hole (another memory making place) and got a box of goodies to eat on the way and made a stop at the Peach Park for lunch and arrived back at my house in the early evening. I really missed all of the pampering and attention that Tracey heaped on me and my house seemed big and empty without her and without Courtney, but I have thought and thought about that trip over and over. It was absolutely a whirlwind, fantasy trip that I am so glad I was privileged to be a part of it. I shall never forget one minute, one scene, one thing about my week-end in Destin in June, 2008.

Now, let me tell you about my experience Monday night, June 30th. I accompanied Corinne to Lakeshore Wedgewood Home to celebrate 4th of July Supper with Chuck Ross. We got there and looked all over the place for him but he was nowhere to be seen. Finally, here he came, with his cane shuffling along the hallway. We found a table that would accommodate us and also a man named Billy that Corinne and Chuck knew. We got our food - their food and our food - no easy task I might say and we began our meal. Chuck yelled at everybody that came by and got them to come over and meet his guests. He would say "this is Corinne. She works at Dollar General and this is Patsy". He knows everybody - and I do mean everybody and whats more everybody knows him. There was a man and his family at our table who was a teacher at Greenbrier High School. Chuck said he had been there to see Lipscomb play Greenbrier. The man went on to say that he had a son named Tommy Nichols and Chuck said "yes I know him. He plays foot ball and his number is 15". Now I ask you, how does he know somebody that plays for Greenbrier and even know his number? He is amazing. Well, Chuck ate every morsel of food on his plate and two desserts. He wanted us to go to his room and for Corinne to fix his answering machine. It wasn't broken but had lost his voice and was being answered by a recording. Corinne couldn't fix it and we were not wanting to stay in his room any longer than necessary. I cannot tell you how many newspapers, books, envelopes, cups, clothes, and his big collection of Bobble Head Dolls that occupy that one room. Corinne told him that he needed to throw some stuff away and he answered with his usual answer "uh huh". Corinne thanked me for going. I thanked her for asking me. Being around Chuck is quite an experience. He has a memory that is remarkable. For a little while I was taken out of my world and entered into a world where people live such limited lives. It makes me thank God that I have the life that I have but I'm thankful to know that there is a place that is available to those that need the care and concern of christian people who can administer to their needs.

There you have it - A Fairy Tale Experience for me and a glimpse into a life I hope I never have to endure.