Tag: family

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Life

Already March

Already Spring is here. The lawn mowers have been brought out of storage and are humming throughout the neighborhood. Brown yards and fields are now green, red bud trees are blooming with their pink blossoms, and dogwood trees are poised for their white outburst. Eager gardeners already swarm the nurseries for tender plants they hope don’t succumb to a freeze before summer. I pull weeds, trim off dead stalks from old lantana and hydrangea bushes. Yes, I know it’s not the right time to trim hydrangea bushes, but mine become such monsters that I have to. Besides, I haven’t seen them bloom for several years. They have overstayed their welcome, I’m afraid.

So time marches on. It’s been two months since Jimmy passed away, and I’m doing okay, I think. I’ve kept myself busy with things like writing thank you notes, talking to friends and family, taking care of grandkids, and keeping house. I even went to Costa Rica for a week, courtesy of my son and his wife. The change of scenery, the beach, the ocean. . .all were balm to a battered soul.

Me on the Pacific Ocean beach in Costa Rica

Even after the memorial service, which turned out almost perfect in my opinion, I still feel in limbo. Unsettled. Unsure. Unprepared. I’m alone in this house, on this property. I alone am responsible for its upkeep, its repair. I am a widow. I make all the decisions now. I am a widow.

Spring speaks of new beginnings. So it does. Am I ready? “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Ready or not, here I come. No hide and seek here. I’m all in.

What about you? Is spring a new beginning for you?

XOXO

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Being a Grandparent COVID 19 glamping holidays home decor Life Parkinson's Disease

“Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. . .”

“It’s the best time of the year. I don’t know if there’ll be snow, but have a cup of cheer. . .” And so the song goes, courtesy of the late great Burl Ives. Remember the snowman on “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” animated special? I was seven years old when I saw it for the first time. It was magical. Now I can’t even get my grandkids interested. The old claymation specials have nothing on today’s computer graphics animation. Ah, but they were magical, at least to my generation.

I got distracted. Sorry about that. I have decided to have a holly jolly Christmas at my house. I don’t care if a pandemic is raging, threatening my family and friends, threatening retailers and restauranteurs, threatening the traditions we all hold dear. Maybe the pandemic is a good thing.

Our Living Room Christmas Tree

What? What did you say? I said, maybe it’s a good thing. It’s changing our priorities. We are focusing more on loved ones, and not things. We are finding out that the most valuable things in life are not things at all. The things we miss are not things, either. Hugging a friend or relative, shaking hands, whispering in someone’s ear, getting close enough to detect a special cologne, gathering in groups at holiday parties, sharing a toast, kids sitting on Santa’s lap, being able to breathe without fogging up your glasses, last-minute shopping in a crowded store. Need I go on?

We have given up much this year because of Covid-19. But look at what we’ve gained: a new appreciation of freedom, gathering with friends, going shopping and dining wherever we want, gathering with family at holidays and special occasions, going to church and fellowship with fellow churchgoers. Boy, do I miss that.

My precious granddaughters enjoying the season.

I’m going to make it a holly jolly Christmas, though. I’m going to:

  1. Enjoy small things like the lights on my beautiful tree.
  2. Behold the wonder in my granddaughters’ eyes as they look at all the decorations.
  3. Experience the delight in the two-year-old’s smile as she touches an LED C9 bulb and finds out that it’s cool to the touch.
  4. Note the pride in the five-year-old’s stance as she finishes decorating the little silver tree for my camper.
  5. Enjoy the taste of pumpkin spice in my morning coffee.
  6. Relish drinking from my special Christmas coffee mugs.
  7. Cozy up to my dog next to me in my chair while wearing comfy pajamas.
  8. Relish a morning when I get to sleep just a little bit later.
  9. Wrap each and every gift with love.
  10. Give thanks for online ordering when I can’t get to a store.
Can you see the silver tree hidden in the tinsel garland? I left it just as she decorated it.

Get the picture? There is a host of ways to make it a holly jolly Christmas. Even as my days are consumed with caregiving and my nights with intermittent sleep between calls from hubby, I choose to focus on the good. Yes, I have days, even weeks, when I wonder how this is all going to turn out–the pandemic, my husband’s disease progression, the next presidential administration, life in general. But I rest in this: my God knows it all, and holds it all, in His almighty hands.

So. . . Merry Christmas. May all your days be holly jolly.

XOXO

Little “Miss Millie” all dressed up for the holidays.
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Life Pets

Meaningless Drivel Monday: Random Labor Day Thoughts

It’s a good day when all the socks in the laundry folding basket have mates.
Wouldn’t you agree?  Yes, I am folding laundry on Labor Day.  And the hubster is working.
And so is the son-in-law, so Daughter and I are home.  I fold laundry while she plays video games.  Nice, huh?  The good thing for her about being home is no housework, right?
So I am quietly folding laundry, pondering topics for today’s blog post, and Daughter screams (hollers):  “Ack!  There’s a red wasp!”  
 
Now, red wasps in our neck of the woods are the horror, with their angry aggressiveness and mean stings.  I still have a scar on my forehead where I was stung at the tender age of four!  That sucker chased me down.  CHASED ME DOWN.  Tha horrah!  
 
But I digress.  Aforementioned red wasp is indeed inside the glass door flitting around in a panic, able to see the great outdoors but unable to get there.
 
 
Several options flash through my mind as Daughter says, “Again?  How are they getting in?”  She had to call her grandmother over from next door the other day to help kill one while we were gone.  Our doggie door gaps a bit, so I am sure the wasps are getting in that way.  Who wouldn’t find a way inside where there is air conditioning?
 
In a flash I decide against the flyswatter and the bug spray.  I had to act quickly.  No time to fetch said weapons.  I pick up a nearby flip flop, open the glass door, and coax the beastly insect to freedom.  It all ends well.  No violence, no noxious fumes, everyone happy.
 
Next issue at hand:  convincing my three dogs that dinner is still over an hour away.  Stop staring at me with those sad eyes!  She’ll give in. . .she always does. . .
 
“Feed me, Mommy!” say Whitey and Molly.
 
“Did you say ‘time to eat’?” Maggie asks.
 
What are YOU doing today?
 
 
XOXO
 
 
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miranda lambert teaching

Teacher Tuesday: The rewards of social media
Facebook sometimes gets a bad rap.  Everybody who is hip and tech savvy seems to have a Facebook or Facebook page while the rest consider it a waste of time and an invasion of privacy.  Granted, some people spend way too much time reading news feeds and posting statuses that no one cares about.  Worse still are those who upload photos that no one wants or needs to see.  Photos of children are freely posted without regard for the potential of some pedophile somewhere using the photo or information in some perverse or criminal way.
 
All that said, I too, have joined the bazillions on Facebook.  I have more “friends” than a person could ever keep up with, and I take an hour now and then to scroll down the news feed to find out what is happening out there with people I rarely see in person.  It’s an excellent way to keep up with people I would never see or hear from.
But the best thing about it?  I get to be in touch with former students I would never hear from otherwise.  And what I learn is the best reward a teacher could ask for.
 
I see them grown up now with families and careers and surprising maturity.  For the most part, I didn’t teach the “gifted” kids or the “honors” kids; I mostly taught the ones who struggled through high school, the ones who might have dropped out without my special dropout intervention program.  Many of these kids were labeled underachievers and troublemakers by teachers and administrators who should have known better.  It speaks volumes when some of these kids call themselves “rejects” or “losers” because they have not been successful in school.  In my opinion, school has failed them, and not the other way around.  I spent a lot of my time defending these kids to the very system which prides itself on educating every child.  All too often many kids do get “left behind” in the quest for school district recognition.
 
Anyway, back to Facebook.  What better reward could a teacher have than to see posts by former students describing their service in the military, their careers, their children, their spouses, and their homes?  I love finding out that my kids (students) have grown up into responsible citizens and family members.  Facebook gives me a window into the world of my former students that I would never have had before.  
 
I have discovered that my former students are now electricians, plumbers, mechanics, contractors, singer/songwriters, nurses, massage therapists, police officers, gun dealers, photographers, real estate brokers, weather forecasters, business owners, lab technicians, firefighters, landscapers, fence builders, teachers, legal assistants, car salesmen, computer technicians, cowboys, professional cheerleader director, and the list goes on.
 
So, however self-absorbed today’s generation may be, I’m glad that they are giving me glimpses into their successful lives.
 
XOXO
 
 
Categories
Memoirs

FOLK Magazine’s Journal Challenge: My Favorite Trip of All Time

This week’s journal prompt from Folk Magazine mentions that this is the time of year when people begin planning summer vacations.  They then ask us to tell about our favorite vacation of all time, and then explain what makes it so special.

Another tough one, but out of all the family vacations I have taken in my life, first as a child with my family, then as a parent with my own children, I would have to choose the vacation that my son took me on just after he graduated from high school.

I will never forget when he asked me.
“Let’s go to New York, Mom,” he said.
I had to laugh.  “Yeah, right,” I said.
“No, really.  I’ll pay for it with my graduation money.  If you will buy the food, I will cover the hotel and flight.”
Suddenly a real live trip to a real live place that I never thought I would ever in a million years be able to visit became a possibility.  (That is SOME sentence, even for an English teacher. . .)

Soon, we found ourselves in the middle of a big ol’ city with not a clue as to how to get around.  My son is a pretty smart young man and he figured it out for us.  And this was pre-GPS and internet on your cell phone.  I will never forget the landmarks and sights we beheld, or the rush hour subway traffic and street vendors, or the way New Yorkers use their feet like Texans use their cars.  My feet were so sore one night I had to sit down in the shower!

Matt and me at Maxie’s in Times Square.  It was June, 2002.
But the thing that will stick in my mind forever is the fact that Matt invited me, his mom, to go with him when he could have invited any of his friends or other family members.  What a privilege for a mom to be included in a once-in-a-lifetime experience with her teenage son!

On Liberty Island with Manhattan behind us.  Gotta love those plaid pants!  And I was a redhead back in those days. . .
We had such a great time that I was invited AGAIN two years later to go with him and his best friend before Jordan entered the Army!
Yep, it was a great trip with a great kid.  I’d have to rank it up there as my all-time favorite.  

What would be your favorite trip of all time?

XOXO