This last month has been busy but oh, so fun. The next two weekends will be just as busy and May will arrive. It is already so hot that I am having a hard time imagining a south Texas summer. My caladiums are coming up, and that is the biggest clue that there won't be any freak cold fronts coming our way.
My eyes are finally to normal size and with a little effort, I can actually see most things with OTC glasses. My prescription glasses should be ready soon. The first round left me fuzzy blind in all aspects, and the company is on its second round. Hopefully, the new pair will adjust for the macular in the right eye. If not, one more round of laser is due to try and correct as much as possible.
Our AC got invaded by a critter of some sort, and we used fans only last night. We survived, and the repairman very efficiently fixed our capacitor that was shorted out due to the demise of a woodland creature.
I am getting my leg strength back slowly but surely. The bursitis in my hips has its moments of pure pain, and then it goes away. The support stocking helps and so does celebrex. Tylenal in between makes the pain tolerable. I really felt the irritation at the casino this past weekend. Even my mom was able to stand longer than I was, so the craps table wasn't an option. Guess the malady ended up saving me money in the long run.
Richard and I are avid readers and we soon found a Walmart offering book selections we both enjoy. I really prefer to hit the antique malls for books, but made do in the meantime. Reading a book and lounging around the indoor pool, again, saved me a few bucks, I am sure.
I have been basically catching up this week and it feels good. Looking forward to my May flowers, but wondering where the April showers are in our part of the country........
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Comedy of Errors
My mom's birthday was a success. She had an afternoon filled with family, friends, and happiness. Family pictures included four generations. Those are memories of a lifetime. I am not sure how all went well, but it did. My brothers and sisters worked on the party for two months now, and we had hoped to get it all decorated and done, so we could really visit with our Seattle relatives and family members we hadn't seen in years. We chose to have the party at my brother's because he has a huge place that allows the kids to explore and play.
Everything would have gone well if the wind would have just died down a little. The one day decorating took two days instead. Every planned and finished project had to be redone and reworked. Even the darn table decorations and balloon bouquets had to be anchored over and over because the wind literally walked them from the middle of the tables to the edges. The head table was beautiful, but it too had to be creatively anchored. We used clips, ribbons, and tape to just keep the table cloths from becoming a sail display. Thank goodness my husband and cousin are tall. They helped us throw stuff up at the last minute. What an effort. I am not sure it was pretty, but it was impressive. Not sure of the degree of impressive either, but it was what it was. My mom did get the feeling of being greatly fussed over, and that is what we all wanted. Mountains of food was consumed and lots of memories created.
I said good-byes and drove home early Monday just to decompress. I am so thankful that my mom has lived so long, but I want my kids to just take me to a spa when I turn 80.
Everything would have gone well if the wind would have just died down a little. The one day decorating took two days instead. Every planned and finished project had to be redone and reworked. Even the darn table decorations and balloon bouquets had to be anchored over and over because the wind literally walked them from the middle of the tables to the edges. The head table was beautiful, but it too had to be creatively anchored. We used clips, ribbons, and tape to just keep the table cloths from becoming a sail display. Thank goodness my husband and cousin are tall. They helped us throw stuff up at the last minute. What an effort. I am not sure it was pretty, but it was impressive. Not sure of the degree of impressive either, but it was what it was. My mom did get the feeling of being greatly fussed over, and that is what we all wanted. Mountains of food was consumed and lots of memories created.
I said good-byes and drove home early Monday just to decompress. I am so thankful that my mom has lived so long, but I want my kids to just take me to a spa when I turn 80.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Dear Mom
I would love to tell you that this is my original idea, but as usual I am a great copier. Justin called for your address and said that he was going to write you a letter for your birthday. If he were 12, I would have had him read it to me, but since he is grown, I was just thankful that he was thoughtful enough to do this. He did say he was using the computer to write because his penmanship is not too good, and that is OK. It is the thought that counts.
I got to thinking about it and decided to do the same thing for your card. I want to tell you how nice it has been having you as a mom all of these years, and how blessed I feel for you to have been given the gift of life so we can celebrate your 80TH birthday and beyond. It will be but a blink of an eye, and we will be looking at 90 for you.
I want to commend you for a job well done as a mother. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on all issues of life, and I am sure you were tempted to not claim me as kin at a few points in our journey of love, laughter, and life, but that doesn't mean you didn't do a great job of raising me and my brothers and sisters.
You taught me many important lessons in life and I thank you. I thank you for setting the example of always considering your children first. I look back and know that you always settled for the left overs in life if it meant your children needed something. I think about how hard it is to raise children and you raised five. You persevered every day with diapers (no disposables back then), cooking, cleaning up, washing and hanging clothes day in and day our, ironing every weekend, and always sewing, sewing, sewing. You always took what life dealt you and made the best of it for us. That truly deserves applause. You also fed every stray kid who happened to be at the house at dinner time. I never remember leaving the table hungry.
You put up with our moods and tantrums, likes and dislikes, and the occasional really evil moments we all had. You made sure we went to church and put up with all of the biases that were thrown your way during our young lives. You carefully sewed our clothes so we would look good for Sunday school, and sometimes I still see all of those polished white shoes on the counter in the kitchen. I always knew you were proud of us, no matter what. You were a great style copier, and I remember having the prettiest dresses when I was young and then during high school and college. The patience it must have taken to sew on those beads and pearls just so we would be glamorous for an evening. I remember when you even sewed the boys suits and made sure they were just as handsome as their sisters were pretty.
None of us was ever neglected by you. You wanted everyone to know that we were yours. It's called Agape love, and it is the kind of love that God has for all of his children. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting us see a glimpse of that kind of love. That glimpse got us through the really bad times in life, made us keep on keeping on, and helped us to become strong.
I love you, mom.
I got to thinking about it and decided to do the same thing for your card. I want to tell you how nice it has been having you as a mom all of these years, and how blessed I feel for you to have been given the gift of life so we can celebrate your 80TH birthday and beyond. It will be but a blink of an eye, and we will be looking at 90 for you.
I want to commend you for a job well done as a mother. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on all issues of life, and I am sure you were tempted to not claim me as kin at a few points in our journey of love, laughter, and life, but that doesn't mean you didn't do a great job of raising me and my brothers and sisters.
You taught me many important lessons in life and I thank you. I thank you for setting the example of always considering your children first. I look back and know that you always settled for the left overs in life if it meant your children needed something. I think about how hard it is to raise children and you raised five. You persevered every day with diapers (no disposables back then), cooking, cleaning up, washing and hanging clothes day in and day our, ironing every weekend, and always sewing, sewing, sewing. You always took what life dealt you and made the best of it for us. That truly deserves applause. You also fed every stray kid who happened to be at the house at dinner time. I never remember leaving the table hungry.
You put up with our moods and tantrums, likes and dislikes, and the occasional really evil moments we all had. You made sure we went to church and put up with all of the biases that were thrown your way during our young lives. You carefully sewed our clothes so we would look good for Sunday school, and sometimes I still see all of those polished white shoes on the counter in the kitchen. I always knew you were proud of us, no matter what. You were a great style copier, and I remember having the prettiest dresses when I was young and then during high school and college. The patience it must have taken to sew on those beads and pearls just so we would be glamorous for an evening. I remember when you even sewed the boys suits and made sure they were just as handsome as their sisters were pretty.
None of us was ever neglected by you. You wanted everyone to know that we were yours. It's called Agape love, and it is the kind of love that God has for all of his children. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting us see a glimpse of that kind of love. That glimpse got us through the really bad times in life, made us keep on keeping on, and helped us to become strong.
I love you, mom.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Happy Days
My husband and son went turkey hunting this weekend, and I busied myself having a garage sale. My daughter-in-law and grand came to visit Saturday and ended up spending the night. We had such fun.
We shopped and lunched and rode the carousel and pretended to ride the vehicles that use coins, and shopped and went out for breakfast, ate pizza, and played and played and played. By noon on Sunday, Mimi was desperate to get off of her feet. We decided that naps were a necessity for girls of all ages. I put my feet up and rested while reading my latest novel. The other two blonds are still napping and we are waiting for the guys to return from the hunt.
I feel so happy right now. It always amazes me how being around an energetic two year old can just revitalize me. We are going on a field trip tomorrow and will feed the rays at the Aquarium in Kemah. Looking forward to catching those wonder moments on my camera.
The rest of the week will be spent on the finishing touches for my mom's 80Th birthday. I will get to visit with my Seattle relatives, and we will all be wishing we were on the west coast if the weather turns hot. I am praying for cooler April weather this next weekend. The age ranges of happy feelings will probably take its toll on this gal, and the next two weeks will entail some serious down time for recovery, but it will be worth every second. Ah, life and laughter and love.....
We shopped and lunched and rode the carousel and pretended to ride the vehicles that use coins, and shopped and went out for breakfast, ate pizza, and played and played and played. By noon on Sunday, Mimi was desperate to get off of her feet. We decided that naps were a necessity for girls of all ages. I put my feet up and rested while reading my latest novel. The other two blonds are still napping and we are waiting for the guys to return from the hunt.
I feel so happy right now. It always amazes me how being around an energetic two year old can just revitalize me. We are going on a field trip tomorrow and will feed the rays at the Aquarium in Kemah. Looking forward to catching those wonder moments on my camera.
The rest of the week will be spent on the finishing touches for my mom's 80Th birthday. I will get to visit with my Seattle relatives, and we will all be wishing we were on the west coast if the weather turns hot. I am praying for cooler April weather this next weekend. The age ranges of happy feelings will probably take its toll on this gal, and the next two weeks will entail some serious down time for recovery, but it will be worth every second. Ah, life and laughter and love.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)