Planning Ahead

 There's something about losing someone close in age as yourself. You start thinking about your own mortality. 

True, my sister was 9 years older than me but I'd use that as a guideline to measure my successes and failures. "In another 9 years I am going to start falling.. or have more arthritis.. or stay sick all the time etc. etc. etc." Do you do that? I gotta stop!!                                                                           😔

Now, I have always been an organizer. I like things figured out, and being my age, is making that part of my life a wee bit different. Oh, I have a lot done already in case I keel over in the next day or two. But, my sis's passing has made me think a bit more seriously about 'do I have it all in place?' I don't want my children to have to deal with all my messes and unfinished projects after I am gone.

                                        Just something to think about... 

I have decided to go more minimalist than I normally am. Get rid of things that are catching dust, lying around in my way. I mean, my apartment isn't that big... and I don't want to have to wade through a ton of dusty stuff to find what I am looking for on a daily basis. It's getting harder to find things... trust me!

Do you remember Hint's From Heloise? Oh my gosh... housewives thought she was the 'cat's meow' when it came to being that perfect homemaker. Heloise used to say, 'if you haven't used it in a year, toss it out.' I think that was Heloise. Gee, it's been so long since she was around but that saying still holds true today. 

So, I've been pulling out, going through, sorting, making piles of things to ask my kids if they want them. I could get away with all this work by calling it 'my spring cleaning?"

Which leads me to this mornings chore. I pulled all my Creative Memory Picture Scrapbooks out, dusted them off and started going through them. Were they completed so I could pass them on? Heck no. 

Since I took 24 of those heavy books off the shelf (and believe me, there are a few more) I started asking myself, which ones would I give away. I've found 2 so far. haha. 

So, another thing... Some trips I have made have been just the BEST... I started looking places up on Google of various locations where I've gone and found some very interesting facts that I did not know (or I forgot along the way). I think I plan on using the month of March to share a trip to Ireland my oldest daughter and I made back in the 'olden' days of 1996. Some of the info I found just blew my mind. I always did love to learn new things. I hope you do, too.

Don't look too closely at this. It's not Ireland but rather of a trip I made to Arizona with my Mom. 

So, watch out... We are spending March in Ireland (not in person but on blogger). Wish we all could just pack up and go as a group. Gosh, wouldn't that be fun. 

Alas, long travel trips are a thing of the past for me, even some shorter ones. !!!! So, come along with me... we'll have fun. Least I hope it will be for you. I'll have a blast reliving all of that fun trip! 

Memories of Sis

 Life feels strange now. I keep thinking of my sister, how we were so different and yet we connected. How we shared secrets (cross our hearts and hope to die kind). How she always thought I was spoiled but she wasn't thinking about the fact that she was 9 years older and I was too young to do the chores she was having to do. 

I remember being jealous of her because my husband and I and our 4 kids had just moved into a small house with one teeny bathroom and she and her husband had 2 bathrooms, one with a whole wall that was mirrored. 

I remember trips we two sisters made together. Once to Calloway Gardens where we ooohed and aaahed over the flowers in bloom. 

Next we went to Gatlinburg and it rained and rained. We toasted our 'vacation together' in our hotel room with Sprite and ate pizza while we watched the rain come down. 

We drove down to Orange Beach, Al. and spent hours baking our skin on the beach there. 

We went to Louisanna Lagnippa restaurant where we ate seafood, watched the boats come in after a day of fishing and since I wasn't the driver I had one cocktail and got tipsy. She got a big kick out of that!

On our way down to Orange Beach we'd stopped at a large restaurant in Foley. I've never seen so much food... before we even ordered, the waitresses were coming around with bowls of fried okra and filling our salad plates with it. And, if anyone wanted a dinner roll, it got tossed to them from a waitress half-way across the room. 

From our hotel balcony, Sis (we called each other Sis) threw out bread crust and we had a swarm of gulls attacking us. It was such fun. We squealed and squealed then threw some more bread for another attack. 

When I got cancer, she and her husband drove up to Virginia so she could spend some time with me before my surgery and chemo. And, one time she flew up by herself just for a visit. The first and only time she ever flew in her life of 97 years. She did it just for me! 

It was just us two girls. and now it's just me. But, I have these memories to hold onto and cherish. 

Two Life Celebrations

 

I posted this on facebook on the day after Valentine's to celebrate my one and only sister's birthday. 

To make it to 97 and be active (playing bingo, memory good, loved her little dog, Susie and to play blackjack) is something to celebrate.

The last 4 months haven't been all that great. She fell and broke her pelvis. 

But, I was surprised and so sad to get the call late in the day on her birthday that she had quietly slipped away from us. 

But, what a life. Married at 16, then WWII came, two kids, a divorce. Another marriage that lasted for over 50 years. Made a career for herself as a keypunch operator at the Alabama Beverage Control Board and retired as it's supervisor. 

She loved to travel, loved good ole Southern cooking. Her black-eyed peas and coleslaw were my favorites. She enjoyed her grandchildren and great-grands. Although we lived over 800 miles apart, we talked nearly every day by phone. 

I remember a trip the two of us took to Orange Beach, Alabama. Just sunning on the beach, eating seafood and driving through the countryside just chatting away. 

There were nine years between us and we didn't always see eye to eye like all siblings do but that gal will be missed. There's a hole in my heart this morning. 

I celebrate her amazing life here on earth - I celebrate her new life in Heaven.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

We all have had special valentines in our lives!

Some were sweethearts!

Some were mates!

Some were children, parents, siblings, cousins.

So, if you still have your Valentine with you.... Celebrate each and every day.

If you don't.... then vow to live up to the memories you made with that someone.

To all my blogging friends....

Happy Valentine's Day

The Sound of Silence

 I lay in bed last night thinking about my grandmother. We weren't all that close. Even though my Mom and I lived with my grandparents, I can't recall much about her when I was young even if I reach into the far corners of my memories. 

She was a small woman, quietly going about her chores. She and my grandpa had raised a batch of kids, all taught to work hard. When their eldest daughter did not marry, she continued living with her folks. She is the one who took care of me while my mom worked. She was the one who did most of the cooking and cleaning. She was the one who was my keeper and my companion. 

My Grandmother was the one who picked blackberries, gathered eggs and helped with the baking.    

After I married and was following my sailor husband all over the place, we'd come back home to visit. My main memories of my Grandmother are from that time period. She was small in stature to begin with but as age advanced, her shoulders stooped and she shrunk. I doubt if she was 5 feet. 

I'd go see her and there she'd be, sitting in a rocking chair by the window so she could watch the world go by. She never said much but she did seem glad to see us. Maybe she didn't talk because her hearing was gone. If you can't hear what people say to you, how do you respond? 

She lived to be 100. I was standing by her hospital bed when she passed. 

And, I was thinking about all of that last night and wondering how she affected my life, even in her distant ways. She taught me to notice small things, to appreciate what you had, to not get into other people's business and to enjoy being silent. 

I've had "The Sound of Silence" on my mind lately. I find myself humming it throughout the day. I don't even know most of the words to that song but I like the title. The Sound of Silence... what peace that brings! Thanks, Grandma.                       

                 

You - from A to Z

 Take the alphabet and write a word for each letter which describes you.

Here is mine:

A - Adventurous

B - Barefoot

C - Considerate

D - Dreamer

E- Easy going

F - Forgiving

G - Grateful

H - Homebody

I - Independent

J - Journal keeper

K - Kind

L - Listener

M - Moody

N - Neat

O - Optimist

P - Photographer

Q - Quiet

R - Reader

S - Single

T - Ticklish

U - Unique

V - Virginian

W - Writer

X - (E)xtrovert

Y - Young at heart

Z - zealous

Copy, paste and change the answers to your own post. Let's see how many do this!!!

Age Limits Action

 As I age, my hands have just about given out on me. So are a lot of other pieces and parts! There's so much that I can't do anymore. When my son, Michael, saw that it was hard for me to pull that last corner of my fitted sheet down in place he gave me a set of sheets for Christmas. I absolutely love them.

They are made of 100% microfiber and are so soft it's almost like sleeping on a cloud. And, I can put them on the bed with no problem whatsoever. I am so lucky that I have loving, caring children who watch out for their Mama.

I was also having trouble vacumning so the solution to that was ordering me a Roomba.

The only problems I have now are opening jars and mopping. I have a great jar opener but it's so old that I am scared to death it will die on me before I do.

But, mopping. Well, that's another story.