The Neighborhood and other musings

If you ocasionally find time to read our blog, then take time to read my new blog at http://gardentours25cents.blogspot.com/

Bob is getting prepared to visit DisneyWorld with his daughter and granddaughters in three weeks.  The youngest, Sydney, is getting super excited.  Susannah, Adam, Anderson and I visited DisneyWorld in July (Adam's vacation time).  The timing was bad--we knew it but God was merciful.  We had some good weather in the 80s and 90s and some cooling rains.  Anderson is still watching "It's a Small World "videos and listening to the CD.  It was a wonderful adventure for us.  I know the girls will love it and will cherish the memories with their Pop.

Sydney came over to swim Tuesday along with the nieghborhood children. The pool was ice cold (due to the trees) but they didn't seem to care.  It was a riotous time for all, including the parent who came over to watch. Several kids learned to come in through our doggie door so we had to laughingly declare it off-limits (Where were they when I locked my keys in the house last February and could have used their entry?).  Such joy in the laughter and antics of children.  It brought back great memories.

In my youth, I remember playing outside until the dark (actually, it was probably our parents) chased us in.  We played hide and seek, red rover-red rover, kick the can, hopscotch and other games together.  We didn't seem to mind the heat or the mosquitoes --all we wanted to do was play.  I think I'll try to find the rules to those games and introduce the neighborhood kids to them.  Does anyone remember their games?

Wonderful Wednesday

Since I retired, Bob and I have been celebrating a midweek event called Wonderful Wednesdays.  We started it to get ourselves out of the same old same routine.  Occasionally we've had a misfire but generally the time has been wellspent and fun-filled.  Many times, it has evoked old memories.

Today, we headed up to Abbeville and ate lunch at Huggin' Molly's, a drug store that has been turned into a restaurant.  The local legend goes that Molly is a 7 foot tall and hay bale wide woman dressed in black that appears after dark, chases children and then gives them ghostly hugs while shrieking.  The restaurant is owned by Jimmy Rane of the Yellawood fame and it shows his love for the 50s and old western movie posters. Here's the link: http://www.hugginmollys.com/.

After lunching and looking through a couple of cool gift shops on the square, we returned by going the old 231 route through Headland.  There we visited an antique shop (no finds) and went by Bob's Dee-daden and Nannah' house which is close to the square.  We then checked out the new subdivision that is being built on the Roberts' old acreage.  Papa Roberts was Bob's maternal great-grandfather. 

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera that can download.  However, we did have a picture for our grandson, Anderson who loves to hear his grandfather, Bop, whistle.  Toot, toot, Anderson!

Garden Tours 25 cents!

I'm experimenting with a camera (trying to learn new tricks at the age of 61).  I finally gave up on the Kodak and went to Sam's and bought a canon and actually read the directions.  Yea!  I'm hoping that this small success will really open up new adventures for me.  I will be able to actually start a gardening blog and sell some things on Ebay.  I'm ecstatic.    Now I need to learn how to actually manipulate the pictures.  Another day! 

Susannah....if you're reading this....I took a picture of Emma wanting to play frisbee for Anderson.

Lazy Sundays

Wow, retirement has gotten me in its grip quickly. Today, we skipped church and worked in the garden all morning. I then swam and threw the frisbee to Emma, our golden retriever, a couple of hundred times so she would jump into the pool. For some unknown reason, she won't swim unless we throw a frisbee into the middle of the pool (she'll retrieve it from the edges without any effort). Now mind you, you'll never get the frisbee back from her...her jaws are like steel and she's not giving it up. To get her to give it up, you have to have another one ready to throw. She doesn't seem to mind that we have to get out of the pool and get the one she's just dropped in a shrub somewhere...she's totally focused on getting those babies out of the water and away from us. Occasionally a frisbee will sink to the bottom of the pool and then she will sit by the pool for hours waiting for one of us to rescue it and return it to her. She's exremely patient.

Winston, our Biscuits terrier, used to try to rescue her by running frantically around the pool and trying to grab her tail with his teeth but lately, he's given it up and is just letting her sink or swim. He's more afraid of us grabbing him and throwing him in to swim. He now heads for the doggie door if he sees us getting on our swimsuits or grabbing a towel.

It's a nice life if you can get it.

Retired one week and counting!

It's been a week since my retirement and I've been busy being a gardner, a grandmother, neigborhood babysitter and wife. In my new life, I've started dieting, exercising and devising daily "to do" lists for my husband, Bob. He's had almost 10 years of retirement and has fallen into a lifestyle pattern that I'm thoroughly disrupting.

I've been planning a fairy party (Secret Garden, Hidden Forest) for Sydney's 5th birthday and getting the yard ready for the onslaught of fairies/princesses and Robin Hoods (elves were just too girly a concept for the invited boys). The garden looks great with the pink, purple and blue lace cap hydrangeas blooming along with the lilies of the Nile (agapanthus). Now I have to figure out how to come up with a Sherwood Forest setting.

We've been swimming every day. Bob and I are falling asleep earlier and getting up later. It feels like summer vacation from school. I've reduced the Benadryl to make me sleepy to 1/2 tab and I haven't taken any Prozac for a week-- don't tell Bob! I didn't put on make-up for 4 days!

The only problem that has loomed is that the neighborhood children are drawn to us. We're trying to wean them from visiting when Sydney is not around. Kecia, Jessica and Sydney spent the night with us last night. The neighbors had supper with us last night and lunch with us today.

Maybe I do need that Prozac.

Easter is around the Bend!

Hooray...I think...I repeat, I think that my daughter, SIL and grandson might just be here for Easter. I love Easter because it allows me to
--work in the garden getting ready to show off my back yard;
--pull out the blue Easter Tree (I know it's corny) and decorate it with all my Easter ornaments;
--drag out Susannah's collection of ceramic rabbits that she got each year in her Easter basket (I love the little Beatrice Potter family with the baby kittens--that is what a baby rabbit is called)
-- pull out the Easter baskets that have been left at my house over the years. This year I bought one for Anderson that looks and quacks like a duck. Sydney's has a purple boa. Sigh;
-- buy lots and lots of plastic eggs to put toy cars, splash toys, rings, bugs, candy and change in. Amy Thomas told me that last year Trey found enough money in his eggs to pay the light bill.

So...I go a little Easter ridiculous. I'm already trying to get Bob to fertilize the grass (he says you don't fertilize until May--) Bah, Farmer McGregor!

Things I hate (actually just pet peeves)

My daughter, Susannah, is always writing about things she loves. With thirty more years experience and a few more husbands under my belt, I thought I'd write about things I hate:

#1 on the list: Street humps. In England, they call them, "sleeping policemen." I get so angry everytime I have to slow down to 5 miles an hour (I know it says 20 but you'd ruin your tires) to cross over a hump just because someone doesn't want any traffic on their street. Excuse me--but isn't that what a street is for? Why does our city allow 75% residents on each side of a street (definition: n. a public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town, or city, including the sidewalk or sidewalks) to determine that my tax dollars can be spent to build a hump so I cannot pass through without practically stopping a paying a toll (the toll being an eruption of my temper)? So what do I do? When I come up to a hump, I stop, look and blow my horn very loudly to protect the children who are tied to their computers but may unknowingly stumble out of their homes into the dangerous thoroughfare. There--I've done my duty and am protecting the children of the world. I know their parents appreciate my thoughfulness, especially late at night. By now, they've got my tag number and have woken up the sleeping policeman.

#2 on my hate list (this is a very purging and calming exercise, by the way) are left lane drivers. Pul-leeze-- I know you plan to turn left 5 miles up ahead but could you just please move over to the right and allow me to pass? What is especially maddening is when you have your exact matchmate traveling in the right lane at 50 miles an hour (in a 65 mile zone) and the rest of us are behind you and plotting both of your demises.

#3 on the list are people using their cell phones who are either driving and talking/texting at the same time (which obviously cannot be done by the swerving going on) or people who are behind you in the grocery store who are talking (always loudly so we know they have friends and a life)using a bluetooth and I think they are talking to me. I try to smile sweetly and raise my eyebrow like "are you talking to me?" but there is no eye contact.

That's enough to keep Susannah from fussing about me never blogging. Actually,I had fun. Now, I'll go to bed and tuck myself into the bed beside my #4 pet peeve-- husbands who fall asleep at 8 o'clock at night and snore loudly.

Ticka Ticka dee, Ticka ticka doo

Ticka ticka dee, ticka ticka doo.....that's what my grandson, Anderson, says when he is deliriously happy. I'm happy because I just received a major dose of my daughter, SIL and grandson that might just last me for about a week.

I just returned home from visiting the McCords in Mansfield, TX (part of the Dallas/FW sprawl if you remember your geography lessons.) We had a great time visiting. The night I arrived, we dined at Chef Point, an interesting gas station that is also a fine dining establishment because the owner couldn't get a bank loan for a restaurant but he could actually get one for a gas station. It's been featured on Diners and Dives on the Food Network. Yum --the bread pudding with its cognac sauce is outstanding. It's not everyday you can get gas and chicken piccata at the same place.

On Tuesday, we gorged on Kincaid's famous hamburgers and hot dogs with chili before tackling the Central Market, which is like Eatsey's or Fresh Market, multiplied by 5 or more. I found the most delicious lemon curd. I just wish I'd bought more to take home in my suitcase. Plus, I wish I'd brought a bigger suitcase. Susannah cooked a great dinner, Chicken Delight, a recipe that will be a staple at our home from now on.

On Wednesday, we visited the nation's fifth largest zoo in Fort Worth, which is a charming city with an obviously wise planning commission helping new developments blend in. After wearing our shoes out for two hours without even seeing 1/4 of the zoo, we crawled to the nearby Macaroni Grill, where we amused ourselves with coloring while Anderson looked on with a puzzled look while hinting (unt, unt) impatiently that he wanted his crayons back. If they had given us more than 3 colors, we'd still be there. I was able to convince Susannah to let me browse the local antiques emporium in Mansfield where we found a stuffed animal with new tags for Anderson for only $2 (as opposed to the zoo's standard of $12.99 for a tiny stuffed animal). We had to make up a song about the walrus, "Wally the Walrus Wades in the Water, Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip," whereas Wally gets flipped repeatedly much to the delight of the previously bored Anderson.

Thursday was girls day out with a trip to local gently used childen's store (kinda upscale, I might add) to see if we could possibly add to Anderson's collection of Spring shortalls (I counted 24 in his closet right now), the Home Goods store affiliated with Marshalls and our favorite store of all time, TJ Maxx. We found an educational alphabet bus that we bought for Anderson that after a short time needed to have its batteries removed for our sanity. If we had had a screwdriver, it would have gone the way that annoying doll, Chatty Cathy, went for Susannah--wonderfully silent eternally.

What fun....Ticka ticka dee, ticka ticka doo.

Getting Ready!

Next Monday, I'll get to see my daughter, SIL, grandson and grandoggies in the Dallas Metroplex area. I can hardly wait.

Telephone calls are great, videoconferencing is okay but frustrating, and blogging is the next best thing to watching my grandson grow but -- to get to hold him and hug Susannah--that's what I dream about.

Our lives have been so enriched by our grandchildren. It's hard to imagine unconditional love but I think Susannah and Adam have discovered it in Anderson.

Blog ya later-- Bob wants the computer

Remembering Cheryl

It's taken me a while to write anything. Right after Christmas, I lost my sister, Cheryl, to what probably was a heart attack during her sleep. I honestly haven't been able to write because I didn't want to feel. I talked briefly to Cheryl a couple of days before Christmas and offered her a bunch of excuses why I hadn't been down to Suwannee to see her or why I hadn't gotten her a Christmas gift. She laughed hoarsely (she was a smoker)and said, "You're a new grandmother... I understand."

I'm driven. I've always tried to be the best....the best student, the best worker, the best mom but I wasn't the best sister. After work, I generally fall into my chair and put my feet up on the ottoman and die a mental death by watching reality television. Because I call people all day and talk on the telephone incessantly, it's been too much trouble to give either of my sisters a call. I kept saying---I'll go spend some time with her when I retire or I'll send a card (it came back.) I kept thinking,...when I have time, I'll........

We don't have any more time.

Cheryl, here are the things I would say if I had the time:

You were the meanest and the kindest big sister. Only you will understand that.

I forgive you for all the times you drove by Ritchie's house and blew the horn while I cowered in my seat. I forgive you for the police visiting our house and almost issuing a stalking ticket to me(a seventh grader in 1961). It certainly dampened that crush.

I forgive you for teasing me relentlessly. Perhaps you'll forgive me for surprising you when you walked in the door (as a 11th grader) and found me holding a butterknife to my abdomen with ketchup smeared everywhere. It was payback and your scream reinforced my resolve.

Thank you for pitching in and helping with Susannah's wedding when I was losing my head. Thank you for buying such generous gifts for her when it probably meant you went without.

Thank you for taking care of Daddy all those years. Although we tried to make up for it by paying you, we took advantage of you.

Thank you for going with me to try to intervene and try to get our oldest sister, Beverly, into rehab when we knew it was all for naught.

Thank you for helping me understand that having friends and support is more important than having wealth. Your friends loved you and showed up in force at your memorial.

I always loved you and I'll repeat what I told you the last time we talked, "I'm glad you're my sister."