Jacquelyn Mitchard said,
"Cats regard people as warm furniture." I actually agree with this as well as the fact that cats think that humans only purpose on earth is to operate the can opener. HOWEVER, I would like to change the quote just a tad. . .
My chihuahua regards me as a warm blanket and a place to snuggle when sleeping. You can quote me on that!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Musings
There is a quote from Anna Quindlen that I ran across again today. "Think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived." If you think about it for a minute, what does it say to you?
In the past 15 years I have been to so many funerals that I can no longer count them. Most of them were friends and family that I felt had died "too soon". For one thing, they expected many more years to do the things they wanted to accomplish in life. Some of them had at least a little notice but some woke up that morning expecting to go back to their own bed that night. We aren't guaranteed warning. We actually got that when we came to earth in the beginning. I can imagine how it went. (Give me a little leeway, it's imagined, ok?)
There I was all excited for my next adventure. I was going to Earth! I was going to get a body, as a baby, of course. My coach in Heaven was prepping me for my trip and made sure I had everything I needed. As I'm getting ready to leave, she said, "Remember, dear. Your time on Earth is very short. Don't waste your time on goofy things. Get all the knowledge, memories and happiness you can cram into that life. This is your warning and you won't get another one. Now have fun and I'll see you when you get back." I got my hug and took off for Earth.
I do know some of those that died had felt a sense of urgency in their last few years. The best example is my mother. As she was getting weaker but before she was too weak to do anything, she took two courses to accomplish two things she had always wanted to do. She took an EMT course and an American Sign Language Course. When she was finished she was qualified to do both. She did something about her goals in life. Admirable.
Two of the things I have wanted to do and am slowly working on - I want to visit (and attend a session) in as many temples as I possible can. I also want to visit as much of the United States as possible (and any other part of the world). I'm hoping to add to these two "things accomplished" lists each year. Actually, since my kids have moved all over the place, they have helped me. Cool, hunh?
In the past 15 years I have been to so many funerals that I can no longer count them. Most of them were friends and family that I felt had died "too soon". For one thing, they expected many more years to do the things they wanted to accomplish in life. Some of them had at least a little notice but some woke up that morning expecting to go back to their own bed that night. We aren't guaranteed warning. We actually got that when we came to earth in the beginning. I can imagine how it went. (Give me a little leeway, it's imagined, ok?)
There I was all excited for my next adventure. I was going to Earth! I was going to get a body, as a baby, of course. My coach in Heaven was prepping me for my trip and made sure I had everything I needed. As I'm getting ready to leave, she said, "Remember, dear. Your time on Earth is very short. Don't waste your time on goofy things. Get all the knowledge, memories and happiness you can cram into that life. This is your warning and you won't get another one. Now have fun and I'll see you when you get back." I got my hug and took off for Earth.
I do know some of those that died had felt a sense of urgency in their last few years. The best example is my mother. As she was getting weaker but before she was too weak to do anything, she took two courses to accomplish two things she had always wanted to do. She took an EMT course and an American Sign Language Course. When she was finished she was qualified to do both. She did something about her goals in life. Admirable.
Two of the things I have wanted to do and am slowly working on - I want to visit (and attend a session) in as many temples as I possible can. I also want to visit as much of the United States as possible (and any other part of the world). I'm hoping to add to these two "things accomplished" lists each year. Actually, since my kids have moved all over the place, they have helped me. Cool, hunh?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Sunday = Duke Gardens
Self PortraitI was carrying a quilt, a bag with dog toys, treats, my phone, camera stuff and so forth. Can you tell?
When I was a child we had the Family Reunion on Easter Weekend. Part of the tradition was to dress up in your Easter clothes and everybody pile into cars and go to Duke Gardens to admire the spring flowers and take pictures. This tradition was continued even after the reunions switched to a different weekend and different place. It was just something we did.
Today it was just Willow and me so I thought I would send Duke Gardens to you. If you haven't been lately you should go back if
you get the chance. It has grown tremendously and is changing every year. Bryan and I went several times while he was sick and I haven't been there in nearly a year. I was surprised at the changes just from last year. 
Enjoy a
nd Happy Easter.
Once Upon A Time . . .
Many, many years ago, there was a young woman raising three very small children by herself during a not very pleasant divorce. It was the first Easter that the Easter Bunny would be coming to the house with the help of one parent instead of two. This woman was tired all the time because of working a full time job and working as a full time mom of a 4 month old, a two year old and a four year old. To help the EB do his job this lady had prepared by purchasing a bunch of candy and gifts, green grass and baskets for the children of the household. She placed these things in a little shed outside the house, way up high so the kids wouldn't find them before the EB could put everything together and place the completed baskets for the children to find on Easter morning. All was ready and the woman was pleased to be so prepared.
The morning of Easter - or the night before, however you look at 3:30 am, this woman was sound asleep and dreaming sweet dreams. Suddenly, this woman went from sound asleep to standing on her feet with her heart beating a million miles an hour. OH MY GOODNESS! She forgot it was Easter and had not gotten up to let the EB in the house! She rushed outside in the cold night in her pajamas. Like a crazy person she got the baskets down (I guess the EB must has put them together?) and rushed inside to place the baskets for the EB. Of course, by that time the adrenalin was pumping and sleep would not come for the weary.
Easter morning the children woke to find the EB's work and they lived happily ever after.
The morning of Easter - or the night before, however you look at 3:30 am, this woman was sound asleep and dreaming sweet dreams. Suddenly, this woman went from sound asleep to standing on her feet with her heart beating a million miles an hour. OH MY GOODNESS! She forgot it was Easter and had not gotten up to let the EB in the house! She rushed outside in the cold night in her pajamas. Like a crazy person she got the baskets down (I guess the EB must has put them together?) and rushed inside to place the baskets for the EB. Of course, by that time the adrenalin was pumping and sleep would not come for the weary.
Easter morning the children woke to find the EB's work and they lived happily ever after.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Camping Memories
This is the why I love to camp story. Camping was a big part of my growing up years. We started small with a tent, cots and not much else and took off for Morehead City and Bogue Inlet on weekends. These were beach campgrounds that had little shade but lots of fun for a little girl. We had movies of me and Scott jumping off of the sand dunes that we would watch over and over just so we could back them up and fly backwards to the top of the dune. One movie that was a favorite to watch showed Mom and Dad "wrestling" in the ocean with the waves coming at them. They were out far enough for the water to be chest high. We were so grossed out to find out that Dad was "making moves on Mom" and was trying to tug her bathing suit bottoms off to torture her and make her stay in the ocean while he waved her bathing suit around to embarrass her. The joke backfired on him when a large wave crashed over him when he wasn't looking and he wound up with a mouth full of water, upside down in the ocean with his butt and legs waving in the air. While we laughed and made fun of him when we were watching the movie, he would pretend to be annoyed and grumble about us enjoying watching him drown and that we were evil children. Making that movie go backward was hilarious.
This was where we spent a week with 3 of Dad's grown cousins. I don't think they had ever been to the beach before so it was a fun experience. One of the cousins worked at a dry cleaners with hot steam and the awful sunburn she had became a problem when she went back to work. Her stomach had become blistered and she got really sick. The part I remember about this week in particular was how painful the sunburns were for two of the cousins and me. Noxema's initial coolness was the only thing that helped but would soon start heating up and become miserable again. This was also the vacation when I stepped off of the step at home as we were packing the car - just as our neighbor's dog, Blackie, was chasing a cat and I broke my foot and was in a "jelly boot" for the entire week. I couldn't play on the beach and had to be carried everywhere. Let's see, can't play or have fun in any way, not mobile or able to even go to the bath house by myself, could only sit on a blanket while others had fun around me and get the worst sunburn of my life - oh, yeah - can you tell me WHY I remember this week with fondness? Me either.
Next memories will be about Lake Arrowhead, Buggs Island, the mountains and finally really camping.
This was where we spent a week with 3 of Dad's grown cousins. I don't think they had ever been to the beach before so it was a fun experience. One of the cousins worked at a dry cleaners with hot steam and the awful sunburn she had became a problem when she went back to work. Her stomach had become blistered and she got really sick. The part I remember about this week in particular was how painful the sunburns were for two of the cousins and me. Noxema's initial coolness was the only thing that helped but would soon start heating up and become miserable again. This was also the vacation when I stepped off of the step at home as we were packing the car - just as our neighbor's dog, Blackie, was chasing a cat and I broke my foot and was in a "jelly boot" for the entire week. I couldn't play on the beach and had to be carried everywhere. Let's see, can't play or have fun in any way, not mobile or able to even go to the bath house by myself, could only sit on a blanket while others had fun around me and get the worst sunburn of my life - oh, yeah - can you tell me WHY I remember this week with fondness? Me either.
Next memories will be about Lake Arrowhead, Buggs Island, the mountains and finally really camping.
Sleep
I've had several sleeping disorders for a long time so I'm not surprised that I'm going through a "spell" at the moment. There is nothing like not being able to go to sleep, not stay asleep or can't sleep more than 15 - 30 minutes at a time and so forth. It's a nightmare.
The one I seem to do every time the time changes is my body doesn't know when to sleep. My nights and days get mixed up and I find myself awake at night and can't stay awake during the day. I've tried explaining it to a lot of people and the one thing I've heard several times is that is if I make myself stay awake during the day then I'll sleep that night and be back on schedule. I've done this before and it hasn't worked so why I tried again is beyond me. So with 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night (this morning), I made myself stay awake. It is now almost 2:30 am and my body aches and is exhausted. My brain is moving 100 miles per hour and is no where near sleep. I toss and turn and become a bear - Willow thinks I've lost both of my marbles and that she may have eaten them by mistake.
I've tried milk, hot and cold. I've tried OTC sleeping aids and Ambian. I exercise but not before bed and so forth and so on. Any brilliant ideas would be appreciated although it will probably just have to work itself out like it always does.
I wish I could say, nighty-night.
The one I seem to do every time the time changes is my body doesn't know when to sleep. My nights and days get mixed up and I find myself awake at night and can't stay awake during the day. I've tried explaining it to a lot of people and the one thing I've heard several times is that is if I make myself stay awake during the day then I'll sleep that night and be back on schedule. I've done this before and it hasn't worked so why I tried again is beyond me. So with 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night (this morning), I made myself stay awake. It is now almost 2:30 am and my body aches and is exhausted. My brain is moving 100 miles per hour and is no where near sleep. I toss and turn and become a bear - Willow thinks I've lost both of my marbles and that she may have eaten them by mistake.
I've tried milk, hot and cold. I've tried OTC sleeping aids and Ambian. I exercise but not before bed and so forth and so on. Any brilliant ideas would be appreciated although it will probably just have to work itself out like it always does.
I wish I could say, nighty-night.
Monday, March 17, 2008
War, Pine Straw and Spiders
It's time for a "When Gramama Was a Child" story. First of all, "back in the olden days" we didn't have the technology that there is today. I remember when we first got a TV and yes, it was black and white. No one else we knew had color either. So - no videos, DVDs, video games, computers, x-box and so forth. For that matter we only had three stations on the TV so even if we watched TV there wasn't a lot to choose from. (I remember when Sesame Street started and if you got the email I sent out some time back about the "evils" of Sesame Street then you know how I started out.
So, just what did we do to entertain ourselves? Well, when we came home from school we did our homework. Really! No kidding, ok maybe not but we were supposed to do it as soon as we got home. Mom worked at night and was asleep when we got home and I was supposedly in charge of Scott, who was two years younger. I say supposedly because I had no authority and if he chose to not do his chores or do something he wasn't supposed to do - well, let's just say that spanking and switching (and sometimes the belt) were normal then and wouldn't get a parent sent to jail or have their children taken away. I'd tell Mom or Dad what he had done or not done expecting them to at least speak to him but no, I'd get punished because I was in charge. Sometimes he would get punished too but it was still unfair. The not telling didn't work either cause they always found and and I'd get in trouble for whatever it was and for not telling. This could be a very long blog if I really get into the injustices so I'll stop with that.
We had chores. A lot of chores. We were responsible for keeping the house clean. There was the main cleaning day on Saturday when the cleaning was much more intense but during the week it was me and Scott. I was also in charge of supper, cooking and cleaning up afterwards. This all started when I was 8. Sounds worse than it was. Mom was there in the house in case Scott tried to burn the house down. (That only happened once.)
Now playing. War consisted of building forts out of pine straw of which we had tons. The entire back yard was a pine tree forest. Literally. The house was built on land that was part of the woods. If we weren't bombing each other with pine cones, then we'd turn the forts into the Wild Wild West and play cowboys and indians. More pine straw. We'd find scrap wood or branches to help hold everything up. I cringe thinking about it now because it was spider and tick city. We always had bites from those things and from the mosquitoes. Our claim to fame was showing Mom the pretty black spiders with the red hour glass on it's back. How the heck did we survive? I guess we were just too stupid to know we should have died from all this.
We had the run of the neighborhood and went to a nearby park or down to the creek either in our yard or down by the golf course. If my kids did any of the stupid stuff we did as kids, please don't tell me. I have enough gray hair.
I know my kids will groan when I say this next part. From the time I was in the 6th grade my favorite thing to do to entertain myself was reading. More on that another time.
One last thing. I don't know how old we were when it came on - but - we would always hurry home every day because at 4:00 there was a soap opera called Dark Shadows. I was half in love with the were-wolf, Quentin ,but most girls were gaga over Barnabus, the vampire. I should mention that a soon to be Charlie's Angel star, Kate Jackson, was also in the soap as a "normal" person. Beautiful Angelique, the witch, was always getting in trouble or trying to kill someone. Ah, what a wholesome sounding show. Actually it was very tame compared to some of the less violent shows of today.
So, just what did we do to entertain ourselves? Well, when we came home from school we did our homework. Really! No kidding, ok maybe not but we were supposed to do it as soon as we got home. Mom worked at night and was asleep when we got home and I was supposedly in charge of Scott, who was two years younger. I say supposedly because I had no authority and if he chose to not do his chores or do something he wasn't supposed to do - well, let's just say that spanking and switching (and sometimes the belt) were normal then and wouldn't get a parent sent to jail or have their children taken away. I'd tell Mom or Dad what he had done or not done expecting them to at least speak to him but no, I'd get punished because I was in charge. Sometimes he would get punished too but it was still unfair. The not telling didn't work either cause they always found and and I'd get in trouble for whatever it was and for not telling. This could be a very long blog if I really get into the injustices so I'll stop with that.
We had chores. A lot of chores. We were responsible for keeping the house clean. There was the main cleaning day on Saturday when the cleaning was much more intense but during the week it was me and Scott. I was also in charge of supper, cooking and cleaning up afterwards. This all started when I was 8. Sounds worse than it was. Mom was there in the house in case Scott tried to burn the house down. (That only happened once.)
Now playing. War consisted of building forts out of pine straw of which we had tons. The entire back yard was a pine tree forest. Literally. The house was built on land that was part of the woods. If we weren't bombing each other with pine cones, then we'd turn the forts into the Wild Wild West and play cowboys and indians. More pine straw. We'd find scrap wood or branches to help hold everything up. I cringe thinking about it now because it was spider and tick city. We always had bites from those things and from the mosquitoes. Our claim to fame was showing Mom the pretty black spiders with the red hour glass on it's back. How the heck did we survive? I guess we were just too stupid to know we should have died from all this.
We had the run of the neighborhood and went to a nearby park or down to the creek either in our yard or down by the golf course. If my kids did any of the stupid stuff we did as kids, please don't tell me. I have enough gray hair.
I know my kids will groan when I say this next part. From the time I was in the 6th grade my favorite thing to do to entertain myself was reading. More on that another time.
One last thing. I don't know how old we were when it came on - but - we would always hurry home every day because at 4:00 there was a soap opera called Dark Shadows. I was half in love with the were-wolf, Quentin ,but most girls were gaga over Barnabus, the vampire. I should mention that a soon to be Charlie's Angel star, Kate Jackson, was also in the soap as a "normal" person. Beautiful Angelique, the witch, was always getting in trouble or trying to kill someone. Ah, what a wholesome sounding show. Actually it was very tame compared to some of the less violent shows of today.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Easter Activity - part 2
(Part one is below)
Station 5 was next. Sisters Ray and Scott talked about the plan of happin
ess and how this pertained to Easter. The treasure hunt took us to several places and ended with chocolate. That's MY kinda treasure!
If you are interested in what goes in the twelve eggs and the scriptures contact me at Brona3@juno.com and I'll forward a copy of the instructions.
Station 5 was next. Sisters Ray and Scott talked about the plan of happin
ess and how this pertained to Easter. The treasure hunt took us to several places and ended with chocolate. That's MY kinda treasure!
The last station was #2 and was the great activity of putting
scriptures and items in plastic Easter eggs that help tell the story of Easter. I love this way of doing it because I'm a visual kinda person and can use these items to help me remember key points that I might otherwise forget. Love it.
If you are interested in what goes in the twelve eggs and the scriptures contact me at Brona3@juno.com and I'll forward a copy of the instructions.
Easter Activity - part 1
Saturday was the ward Primary Activity and I got to be one of the leaders of four groups to take the kids around to Five Stations.
Station 1 was gathering in the gym, saying a prayer, splitting the kids up into four groups and an initial talk by the Primary President to tell the kids what we were doing.
Each group went to a different station to start and all switched at the same time so everyone would get to each station and have plenty of time. We (Group Two - 2 girls and 10 boys) started with Station 3. Connor and Jordan were the leaders in this group and had the kids act out two parables they had planned. Both boys were working towards their Faith in God Award and this was one
of the things they chose to do for that award. Connor chose the Parable of the 10 Virgins and Jordan chose the Parable of the Talents. I forgot to take pictures when we were doing it. I must have been having too much fun. Here is Connor and Jordan with their helpers.
Next Station was #4. Sister Hampton (Primary Pres.) talked about the food that may have been served at the Last Supper and explained that it was the Passover meal and what that meant. The kids tasted unleavened bread, fruits and nuts, hummus, olives, goat cheese and so forth. The kids were funny. Most wrinkled their noses at the goat cheese but those that tasted it asked for seconds, thirds and so on.
More on the next blog.
Station 1 was gathering in the gym, saying a prayer, splitting the kids up into four groups and an initial talk by the Primary President to tell the kids what we were doing.
Each group went to a different station to start and all switched at the same time so everyone would get to each station and have plenty of time. We (Group Two - 2 girls and 10 boys) started with Station 3. Connor and Jordan were the leaders in this group and had the kids act out two parables they had planned. Both boys were working towards their Faith in God Award and this was one
of the things they chose to do for that award. Connor chose the Parable of the 10 Virgins and Jordan chose the Parable of the Talents. I forgot to take pictures when we were doing it. I must have been having too much fun. Here is Connor and Jordan with their helpers.
Next Station was #4. Sister Hampton (Primary Pres.) talked about the food that may have been served at the Last Supper and explained that it was the Passover meal and what that meant. The kids tasted unleavened bread, fruits and nuts, hummus, olives, goat cheese and so forth. The kids were funny. Most wrinkled their noses at the goat cheese but those that tasted it asked for seconds, thirds and so on.
More on the next blog.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Confession
Proof that I'm a loser. When I can't be with one of my loved ones on their birthday - I have a cupcake or cake, complete with candle to blow out, sing Happy Birthday to them and pretend that I'm there with them. So, for you Miss Kayleigh - Happy Birthday to the cutest one year old girl I know!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Prayers, Answers and Fairies
Just remember that when you pray, you need to be specific. Last night we had a tornado watch and as the rains smashed against the windows and the wind sounded really scary, Willow was freaking out. She's never been in a storm like last night's and was not real happy. I said a sincere prayer asking for protection for me and Willow and specifically asked that no limbs and/or trees fall on the house or car or even the shelter in my driveway. I glanced out this morning and didn't see any huge trees fallen over so I went about my business. I got ready to go to my regular 12 - 3 shift at the Ronald McDonald House and went to my car to leave. In my driveway was a huge pile of limbs. Most were behind the car, blocking my way out, and a lot were surrounding all the sides of my car. There wasn't even a stray leaf on the car, much less limbs or damage where something had fallen on the car. You can say this is a coincidence but I think Heavenly Father heard my prayer and showed me and Willow that He is watching over us.
A side note: I called my home teacher and told him about all the limbs and some wonderful fairy came by my house and removed all the limbs in the driveway while I was gone. In case you wondered how I went to the RMH with my driveway blocked - I made a new driveway across my front yard and went out my neighbor's driveway.
A side note: I called my home teacher and told him about all the limbs and some wonderful fairy came by my house and removed all the limbs in the driveway while I was gone. In case you wondered how I went to the RMH with my driveway blocked - I made a new driveway across my front yard and went out my neighbor's driveway.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Leap Day - Leap Year
Today I want to remember someone who was more like a brother than he was an uncle. He died on February 29th in 1996 so I thought it would be appropriate. I remember my dad's youngest brother living in the apartment next door with their mother (Mama Ferrell) but he was an old person (not much older than me really but, hey, he was in high school - that's old to a little kid.)
My first vivid memory of him should have caused nightmares but didn't. I guess I knew he loved me so it really wasn't as bad as it sounds. I had a loose tooth. So loose that it was literally hanging on by a thread. I must have complained about it one too many times because he had told me to "just pull the tooth" for the thousandth time and he had had enough. He chased me first, tackled me and fought with me until he came away with my tooth. I think it fell out but I never let him forget it. I was with him in the hospital not long before he died and we talked about it. He remembered it too. He said I was a pain in the behind and was lucky to make it to adulthood. Gee, sounds like an older brother, doesn't it?
I always felt close to Verdell (aka JV). When he got back from the Navy, I used to go visit with him and his wife. I was soooooo excited when they were going to have a baby. I almost felt like Felicia was my own baby doll - just for my enjoyment. When they divorced and Verdell needed help with Felicia, I was right there. I spent almost as much time with them for about a year as I did at home. The day that I found chicken pox on Felicia and the friend (Rose?) who had spent the night with her was a very traumatic day for me.
Once they moved to Charlotte, I didn't get to see them very much. It was really nice when I grew up enough to be able to go and visit and get to know Verdell - adult to adult. He was just like me in a lot of ways. He was stubborn, bull-headed, opinionated and extremely loyal.
So - while there are lots of memories of my favorite uncle - I'll end with this. Verdell was a character. Crazy, wonderful and yes, he was a pain in the behind - however - he was my favorite pain in the behind.
Now for the strange happenstance. This past Friday - leap day - my only uncle on my mom's side of the family died. How's THAT for a strange coincidence?
My first vivid memory of him should have caused nightmares but didn't. I guess I knew he loved me so it really wasn't as bad as it sounds. I had a loose tooth. So loose that it was literally hanging on by a thread. I must have complained about it one too many times because he had told me to "just pull the tooth" for the thousandth time and he had had enough. He chased me first, tackled me and fought with me until he came away with my tooth. I think it fell out but I never let him forget it. I was with him in the hospital not long before he died and we talked about it. He remembered it too. He said I was a pain in the behind and was lucky to make it to adulthood. Gee, sounds like an older brother, doesn't it?
I always felt close to Verdell (aka JV). When he got back from the Navy, I used to go visit with him and his wife. I was soooooo excited when they were going to have a baby. I almost felt like Felicia was my own baby doll - just for my enjoyment. When they divorced and Verdell needed help with Felicia, I was right there. I spent almost as much time with them for about a year as I did at home. The day that I found chicken pox on Felicia and the friend (Rose?) who had spent the night with her was a very traumatic day for me.
Once they moved to Charlotte, I didn't get to see them very much. It was really nice when I grew up enough to be able to go and visit and get to know Verdell - adult to adult. He was just like me in a lot of ways. He was stubborn, bull-headed, opinionated and extremely loyal.
So - while there are lots of memories of my favorite uncle - I'll end with this. Verdell was a character. Crazy, wonderful and yes, he was a pain in the behind - however - he was my favorite pain in the behind.
Now for the strange happenstance. This past Friday - leap day - my only uncle on my mom's side of the family died. How's THAT for a strange coincidence?
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