Stones, Life and Roadways

Thank God, Charles is OK. He just passed a kidney stone. Now that son  of mine is not ever sick, I mean really sick. Oh when he was born he was deathly ill, as in 50/50 chance of surviving.
God gave him 100%. As the years progressed, he would get a little fever and begin to hallucinate. He always came in and slept on the foot of my bed when he was sick.
Oh how I miss those days, those days of being able to help and rub foreheads, of adding a cool damp towel to the head that ached,  and was known to check their temp several times a night. Mostly I miss kneeling by that bed and praying for them. Having that Mama and Daddy touch.
Now we kneel and pray and know God  is still on his throne.

Tomorrow we plan on leaving Red Bluff for YC. Returning on Sunday and leaving out again on Tuesday for Seattle. I think we are doing pretty good on taking one day at a time.
Maybe we will leave early and get to " Seven Feathers" and spend a night or two. Maybe make it to Cottage Grove Oregon, That sweet town  has More covered bridges than anywhere we have traveled plus they have a motel with more gardens than I have seen. Each one is a theme. I always get ideas there.

OH OH OH, One of the tenants here, had lights on a tree by his space. We were in awe. They were awesome. We stood at 10 pm and tried to figure out why we could  see no wires.
Morning came and I met him at his Motor Home. I asked, "May I ask you a question."
He smiled and said, "NO"
I said, "OK I will  anyway, I am arkie and I talk a lot and I must know"
What are those lights on your tree. They are amazing, we looked up again and still no  wires.
He then showed us his Laser light. It shines on the tree, from the ground and appears to be little lights walking all over the tree. In fact it appeared they were climbing the tree.
Yep I have already looked them up on the Internet. His were blue. I found blue and mostly I find red and green for holidays.
Blue it is, as soon  as I am sure the money is there to cover them and I do not feel like I am wasting money.
So many things to talk about on this journey. Remember I said, "Originally this was a trip, Now it is a journey, a journey of trust, faith and Love.
God is good to us.

Dancing

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Good reasons to wake each day. It is time to dance.
As David and I sat by the fire pit at Durango RV Resort, I had an idea.
Suddenly I hummed the first musical notes of Bobby Vinton, "Love How You Love Me"
BTW that is OUR song.
I looked at David, he smiled, we rose and began to dance, with me singing the words softly.
Yeah Let the whole camp watch, We are still in Love after 52 years and sometime Love can burst out of  our hearts!!!!
It was a beautiful moment in our travels and we think of it every time we see the pits burning.
You must go on line to  view this Resort. You dont even have to leave your spot, just sit down and watch the river go by, walk among the MANY MANY motor homes and no two with the same name.
We are surrounded by Lavender, Red  and white Roses, several varities of Lillies,  Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Bottle Brush plants, groves of beautiful trees, Trees I am trying to  find the name of so  I can plant them in OKlahoma.  There is  a huge pool and spa, massage parlor and many people  to meet. IN fact you  know us, we go and talk to most of them. We met one amazing  couple  that were so much fun to visit. She is a rock hound. TRuly, she had lots of polished rock. Every time she handed me one of her BEAUTIFUL ROCKS or jewelry pieces,  I cringed. I am sometime clumsy. Some of the rocks you could see through. AMAZING

When I invited them to stop to see us in  Ramona she literally jumped and bounced on the sofa. She was so happy. She is Laura, he is David. They are just a little older than our oldest child.
I realized that as we sat at dinner, Suddenly I look  at David, my David and say, "Hon they are about our childrens age"
We all laughed as we all  felt like old friends. They are from Vacaville.
 Yesterday, Sharon and Bob from Grass Valley then we met  A really young couple  with two Home Schooled  kids from Bakersfield area. We had a great visit and he told us how to get through Bakersfield to our camp.
He is an oil field worker, wait not a worker, an enviornmental consultant.
How we loved watching the kids play.

Now we are here on a Saturday and just vegetating.
Learning how to totally unwind and relax. I am getting pretty good at it for the time being.
I  better relax, my new home needs lots of TLC.

I'm Tired, I'm worn

I can not believe I have been living in a motor home for over a month. It is so different than anything I ever did or wanted to do. A camping I could  go, but to live, Na Not so much.
By thursday we will know  if the house we bid on has been appraised and how much?????
It is a 3 bedroom, two horrible baths and almost 1500 sq feet.
Horrible baths??? We plan to rip them out anyway. We must have handicapped access to more than is available in this house. House? Yes it is a house but it will soon become a HOME.
Lots of paint, accessorizing, knocking out walls, and pro help and I  will be good.
See I know  I  can do all this, but do I want to???
Of course I do, I love changes, Now IF I CAN just get David to go sit outside somehwere while  I do this I will be good.
See the problem is, David can not help with much and I  am the energizer bunny.
OH I  get tired and I  STOP.
He however can not handle my energy. He feels useless. I  call him sweetheart turn and grit my teeth.
I married him for better or worse, in sickness and in health. He took great care of me and our children, He was and is a Great Dad and Husband. With his health declining, I am sad and mad and not sure at times who  I am,, where I belong or if I belong. So see this has put a useless tag on me too.

Once I get to decorating and designing our home I  will snap back.
I Can Do All ThingS Through Christ, (who  always has my back) who strenghtens me.

Let Me Tell You

A lot of things, You may or may not know.
On Tuesday we drove to YC, Two of our grandchildren were in a spelling bee.
Kiara won for her school, April Lane, Caylum won for his school Gray avenue.
OH MY GOSH. We got there just in time, Our Son, Ken saved us a seat and we were able to give the kids a "Go Get Them Kiddos!!"
 Last year Cay went to State.  He finished in the top 20 in the state.
This year he made it to round 2. Kiara went to round 2.
Before going she kept saying, "I AM GOING TO BEAT CAYLUM"
Well as it turned out  this year the words were big and difficult. They both missed by an A in their words., She got the word Correspondence, she used and A instead of an E.
He got the word, Rendezvous, he put an A instead of an E.
I say Coincidence or Fate.
They both did wonderful and Cay knew as soon as the A was out of his mouth is was wrong.
Kiara hesitated on her A. So they both knew.
You know winning is not everything, They made it to county, that is something I never did. I think I could  have and David was really great at spelling and he still is. Me not so much.
Ken and Charles and Sheri, (our children) are all very good at spelling and Ken excels in Math, Sheri exceled in English, Charles was great in both. Our neighbor wanted him to help her son Rick Belk in the subjects.

Now onto other news, We signed a contract to sell the house several weeks ago.
All this should have already been done but just yesterday they asked for a Water test.
Yes we are on a well. NO ONE in Churn Creek bottom has ever, (to our knowledge) had a water problem as in Iron, Chloric or E coli. So now we wait on that. We should have been handing keys over on Monday.
Then we get another termite inspection. Get this, it is on a 45 year old garage. OH  MY GOSH.
They wanted the house, the unattached work shop was a bonus. a MIL quarter,  a teens hang out, a storage shop. Whatever. And we had done a lot of work on it when we bought the land.
Now we have to do more. Maybe the buyer and agents can absorb some of that expense. Hope so.
Dang. It is OLD and decrepit like us.

We have given away so much and sold so much, if it drops out of escrow, (someone slap me) we will have to go out and buy a new Mustang, HA HA. More power equipment, All our lawn tools.
NO I will NOT think negatively, God is in control.
And believe it or not, I lie down at night and rest knowing he is guiding us every day.
Regardless of the outcome, we will be OK.

Work to Do

We had a friend come out to help us out yesterday. His work is impeccable. Me on the other hand wants to go out and help him out.
David reminds me, "That is why I hired him"
Oh our previous helper, He is in school and some of this work has to be carpentry.
Bill has helped build houses.
Not one minute does he waste. Always on the go and besides that he used his push mower to clear the front yard. I told him he could use the tractor but he declined. He likes pushing his mower. OK Whatever.
I went out and bought gas and a tank of propane to burn the pile with. We have a huge burn pile. Not one I want to do, So Bill gets to do that.
I can pull all the haul away out and get it stacked for, again I say haul away.
I can spray the grass at fence edge. I can move the trellis.
If only I could get David out of here to go take a hike or something, then I am free to hurry and get it done.
He watches me like a hawk.
On Wednesday we get a new pool pump, I want to move the old one back to the hot tub, I can do that and save about $95. Alas I have a hawk watching every move I make.
I want to spray inside the pool fence. I can do that.
So much I can do to save money. David is sometime a JERK. I Love this jerk but can he just let me do as I want??????
His response, "Cant you just let me make one decision?"
Me, "No your decisions cost more money"

Now we wait, wait, wait on the appraisal. I sure hope all this work is doing something good. As in getting me ahead of the curve. I have loads of crates packed and need to pack more.
I am being very careful with my glassware. I want Madi to get my 53 year old dishes in tact. Madi I got them when I was 15 and Papaw and I used them on anniversaries, birthdays, etc. then our family grew and I did not have enough so they became something we looked at. I have slowly added missing pieces through Replacements LTD.
Again, each piece is being wrapped safely, but I must get out and buy more bubble wrap.
So that is one thing I can do.
That and Cough, Cough, cough, I was tempted to get out of bed at 1:30 and drive into Anderson to get something, anything, I even took a swig of Cognac. YUCK, that tasted like paint thinner.
I wanted the coughing to stop and I heard that would help. It did not!!!!!!!
But Alas, I stayed in bed and coughed  my lungs out until morning.

Good Lord

It has been a long time since I posted. What has been happening?
 Not a lot, other then seeing changes each day. Losses of loved ones, Friends being there for you, Family drifting and OH Yes my cousin, Jim Ed Brown producing another single.
Neighbors you take for granted but who always keep a watchful eye out. (I asked them to watch if David came out to work)
So much.
As of January, my endocrinologist has told me to stay off work until we get my thyroid hormones under control. He has kept them really high, (on purpose) To make sure no thyroid cancer cells left the area of their habitation.
Sounds weird to me.
However as he put me off work, the house has sold.
Why am I not jumping for joy? I am tired, Tired, tired. Hence the reason I do  not work.
If I can not work and get paid, How can I work here and pack?
Good question..
I have slowly moved items to the rec room for selling, However it looks like a junk pile.
The other rooms, on the other hand are looking quite empty.
Except!!!!!!
The living area, I have piled all my photo albums on the table, with the full intention of putting stray photos in them, but alas they lay in piles, with the photo box (overflowing )  on the floor beside the table.
That has been the home for two  weeks.
I open my bowl cabinet today and suddenly realize, "WHY DOES ANYONE NEED SO MANY BOWLS?" A four foot upper cabinet with 4 shelves, all full.
 I still have the first stainless steel  bowls from my first mixer.
My Mamas green bowls, (which go to my daughter) my bowls I love to eat cereal from and our set of clear bowls, just because, Oh yeah, Two sets of just because bowls. My really old bowls with the side lips on them. Green and white with small etched flowers.
 Now lets not get to the ones that go with sets of dishes. Dang!!!!!
Double Dang!!!!
I want to get to YC to see my grandbabies. Gosh when I think of them I tear up.
I tear up when I think of anything, anybody or nothing at all. (Like my mind is never busy)
Dang again.
So now you have a post. I have a post and I am still thinking and sweating.
Dang I detest these hormones.
Must get busy, Anyone want to help????

My Mom

Why do I have such a tough time when I recall all my Mom's trials.
Yes she had trials but she never failed to kiss my Dad good morning. (He was a kisser)
He called her Baby or Darling. (I have that on record as told to me and Sheri in 1986.)
He sat down in his recliner and she brought him a cup of coffee.
In his last days he spent most of his time in Pajamas.
She was waiting on him and scared, knowing his time was probably short.
I can still see his face as she handed him his coffee. His smile and Thank You.

They had communication and it was usually funny, (sometimes they fussed)  but my favorite is seeing their two chairs, side by side with a lamp table between. That table held a lamp, two cups of coffee and their hands as they reached across to hold hands.

Yes my Mama took care of my dad for a while. (In her words, Not long enough)
If he began passing out she was right on the floor beside him, getting his nitro and cradling his head.

He died two weeks after I turned 11.

God I missed him so much, BUT I had a Mama that was always there.
She was at our bedside when we became ill, She was up in the middle of the night praying when she knew things were out of order.
She sat up until we came home from Dates.
She taught us to be self sufficient, (girls).
She taught us to ALWAYS freshen up before our husbands came home from work.
She told me, (Comb your hair and put on a fresh dress)
Mama was always well kept.
She ALWAYS prayed for God to let her live to raise her children.
He did just that.
She ALWAYS  prayed she would not die alone.
(Not one more person could have crowded in her room, as she took her last breath)
God answered that prayer.

So today I am missing her but I have her teaching in my heart,
I have her example of holding hands, kissing occasionally, slow dancing in the kitchen, (Not Mama but Daddy would have loved to) He loved music and dance.
He loved to  laugh Loud and Long, (just like my Charles)
He loved practical jokes. (I do that occasionally)
I see her up early making  the coffee and a big pan of Hot Fresh Biscuits.

Yes Mama was my guide and I will never forget her guidance.
Love is what you make it, or what makes you.