Arlynda Lea's Sites to See #6

The SOLE purpose of this series is to help call attention to sites that I think many would find most interesting—in one way or another.  The link below each image is to the site itself, and each image is linked to the particular post from which it was taken when applicable.  Please, go see for yourself.  Oh, and as with Jerry’s, I will not include sites that have auto-play and word verification engaged.

 Barbara's Bakin' N Bits

 Beaux R'eves

 Bits and Pieces...

 Centsational Girl

 Gracious Goodness

 I'm Trying, Honestly!

 Left and Write Brained

 Library Mosaic

 Life, Laughter and Paris

 Life on the Wild Side

 

 Lookin' Up

 Marylinn Kelly

 Mayor Gia

Midlife Roadtripper

Chaper 9

Good Morning,

It’s Sunday again, though you couldn’t prove it to me.  I’ve been a day ahead all week.  I’m very thankful that the clock my mother gave us as a Christmas gift is linked to a satellite, with the day, date and time (in AM or PM).  Even with that technology, I can get my days and nights confused.  I woke up early for me this morning, waiting for a call back about scheduling yet another procedure.  I got up, had a cup of coffee and ate breakfast before I realized it was Sunday.  Oh, well, it keeps life exciting. 

I need to be resting today and tomorrow (Monday), tee hee.  Someone is coming Tuesday to help me go through things and throw away a bunch of stuff.  My mom was born during the Great Depression.  So, she was raised not to waste anything.  “Don’t throw anything away, we might need it later.”  They were not hoarders like we see today, but they used everything until it was long (very long, actually) past the point of being worn out.  Mom raised us the same way—except we also keep things for sentimental reasons, along with buying as much as possible when things we like to eat and use are on sale and can be stored, which is why we have just recently whittled our tuna stash down to 15 cans and still have the equivalent of a small flea market in our garage.  One of my most prized possessions is a box of shot glasses that belonged to my Grandmother.  This was started when her doctor told her to drink a shot glass of wine every night at bedtime. Being non-drinkers (Grandma and me) I thought the collection was great.  Grandma and the family never knew she had diabetes until they read it on her death certificate.  Red wine can cause blood sugars to run a little lower than they should be at times.  So, one has to be careful of drinking too much of the stuff, as it can cause your blood sugar to bottom out, but a little red wine can help control high blood sugar levels.

We bought this house with good intentions, just not a lot of brains.  We had to have a fenced yard and three bedrooms.  Two bathrooms would be nice, but one would do.  We moved Mom and her cat, Miss Sassy, in first.  On her first night here, the police came!!!  Oh yes, Mama is a party animal, LOL  The neighbors called the police complaining about someone messing around in our back yard.  So we moved in the next day.

I didn’t know cats could fly.  Apparently, a cat that wasn’t raised with dogs can fly clear across the living room, LOL.  Miss Sassy has been very contently sequestered in Mama’s bedroom since.  Now that we’ve been here eight years, she occasionally comes out, but only for a few moments.  Mama started feeding a beautiful calico (Miss Callie or Mama Kitty depending on my memory).  Wouldn’t you know it—she was pregnant!  So now we have four cats in the house, and Miss Sassy is not happy.  Miss Sassy and the two boys from Mama Kitty are all yellow-brownish and white.  I was coming out of the bathroom when I saw a whole herd of yellow white cats running through the hall to the living room into the kitchen and back through the hallway again.  Something just didn’t seem quite right (my brain and eyes were trying to figure out what was wrong with this picture).  Then it clicked that the boys weren’t chasing each other, but how did that stray cat get in the house?  Then the click turned on the light bulb in my brain.  “That’s Miss Sassy being chased by the boys!!!!”  I knocked on Mama’s door and asked her where Miss Sassy was, she replied with a sleepy “I don’t know.”  Mama came and got her severely ticked off kitty and took her to safety.  There’s always some animal drama going on around here.

Well, it looks like I can’t stick to one subject—can I?  LOL giggles.  Take care ‘til next time!

CYA,

Arlynda

Arlynda Lea's Sites to See #5

The SOLE purpose of this series is to help call attention to sites that I think many would find most interesting—in one way or another.  The link below each image is to the site itself, and each image is linked to the particular post from which it was taken when applicable.  Please, go see for yourself.  Oh, and as with Jerry’s, I will not include sites that have auto-play and word verification engaged.

 155 Dream Lane

 A Walk Through My Little World

 B. Meandering

 Ruth Steinfatt

 Simple and Serene Living

 Smiling Sally

 Snap Happy Online

 Sweet Woodruffs

 Ten Thousand Square Inches of Canvas

 The Clampets

 The Spice Garden

 Two Fur-Peeps and A Writer

 Two Square Dogs

 Vintage Jane

Wayside Treasures

Chapter 8

Good Morning,

Yesterday I managed to sleep for 6-8 hours, be up for 2-3, and back for another 6-8.  I woke up not even knowing what day (or night) it was.  I completely missed Father’s Day!!!  Jerry and I don’t have any children, but I usually attempt to do something to remind him that I know that I at least remembered he is the Father of 3, daughters Vicki and Amanda, and son Calvin.  I just hate the way they treat Jerry and hope that someday they will really know the truth of why he wasn’t more in their lives. 

In 1991, I was living and working at the University of Missouri, at Columbia.  I had one of the best jobs I ever had, and ohh did I love it.  I received a phone call really super early one morning, and nothing good ever comes from those.  My dad had some kind of heart episode and my step-mother thought it would be better to let me know the next morning.  It truly was a miracle since the drug they found to control this had just been approved by the F.D.A.   Since my first marriage ended in Columbia (I stayed over a year, couldn’t let him think he was running me out of town) I started making plans to continue my education  back in Springfield.  Now with dad’s illness, that helped cement my plans.  Daddy and I were never as close as we could of, should have been, but I still needed his approval and so much more.  In 1995, they found cancer in his lungs and they stopped counting tumors on his brain.  Daddy had already told my step-mother and the one doctor that he didn’t want any treatment, and I was in the room and heard it all. 

I can’t begin to explain the look on his face when he realized I had just heard what he said.  Days later, I would have to stand up for what he said.  I guess it was a good thing no one else said anything. He was released to go home, but that didn’t last long.  They put him in the nursing home.  He was so funny, he had to entertain when people came to see him.  I started really paying attention, and if it were us kids (or other family) he would stay resting, but if it was someone he didn’t recognize, he would really entertain.  Jerry and I had only been married a little over a year, and spent that time out on the truck.  So every time Daddy would see me, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Where ya been?”  So when I’d go to the nursing home late at night, I knew he’d know me when he’d say that.  We lost him 2 weeks later, on September 19, 1995 at the age of 58. 

Boy, I sure am long-winded (no comment from the peanut gallery, tee hee)  I just hope these young people don’t have any regrets.  I did everything that was within my power to, from taking care of him to spending overnights at the nursing home.   He was 58, and I’m 52, which is not a lot of difference.  I do have regrets about other areas of my life, like losing my temper with Mama, or my sister, or my precious Jerry.  I wish Jerry and I could afford to take a trip.  We’ve never had a real vacation.  Our honeymoon was to Boston, Massachusetts on the big truck.  Ha Ha, that was a trip plumb full of newlywed bliss!  With our health being so pitiful, we’d probably drop dead on a real vacation. Tee hee.

CYA,

Arlynda