SHOT OF LOCAL SCENERY

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It's been quite a ride since my last post. Caring for my daughter's dog, Mana, in rehab with my arm to regain movement, estate sales, and floor renovations. Not that flooring was on my list of late. I was focused on the outbuilding/garage for the dog and tools along with finishing the AC downstairs. Just wanted to help a young couple out who needed money to get thier own place and since I had slate...I thought I'd give him the job of laying it to earn the extra cash. Really need to get back to the ATT and HP issues with the computers but it's been nice to take a break from that mess.

Went to the ER twice since. One for a cat scan to see why I have headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Thought it was because of the pinching in my neck from the fall but there was infection in my lymph node. Need to get that tooth in the back pulled since my peridontist stuff has been pushed off from the shattered arm/plate thing :/ Then again I go for severe pain in the bone in my arm. Thought it broke off again or something. ER doc asked me "What do you want me to do about it". I swear. Then when he asked me why I needed to know what was wrong. DUMBIEST thing I've yet to hear! My docs in Louisiana said it was conducive for me to know what is going on because I am a participant in my healing process and I wanted an xray to determine if the bone dislocated and I need to up my appt. with the bone doctor by a week. The lortabs weren't working and I had extra morphine and percacets so I go home and take them. I then find out my insurance is only helping with 'generic' drugs and they seem to give me every side symptom there is so last script I got the real deal. Ooooo. Lot's of rest for me! That and the therapy = "Spa La La" lol :D

And it's been hard dealing with Mana while Jim is out of town. She hasn't been listening at all and on the 'Great Critter Hunt' in the woods, treeing squirrels, pouncing turtles, and corning a water snake. The black squirrel here is one of a few around who has fathered a half red and brown squirrel with a white nose I am wanting to get a pic of ;)

Playing with my realtor, friend, and lady that attends the same church with has been a blast though! She is soooo vivacious, smart, and funny! We hit an estate sale and not only came out broke...but I now have 3 sets of china, 2 crystal sets, beautiful HUGE mirror, etc. Nothing I really needed but nice to do something frivilous while down although I told her I was going to 'frisbee' the offering plate at her come Sunday :l I played over at Text Tuts for the 'Antique' in the graphic here yesterday. I also used a couple of the photos from My Photoshop Textures (music sheet and old doc) in the layering process. I would have really loved to have attended the Aberdeen Estate Auctin that had OLD Grant and Lee portraits, 12 foot high armoirs, 200 year old antiques, and even original slave papers from a historic southern home on the historic register. The place should have just been opened up as a museum but they are redoing one home there and posts on Beauvoir's restorations. (I prefer the tag sales over the auctions ;).

Well, back to driving a bit. Kept it local because I am in a splint and limited movement still. Glad for my old routines to come back around. Some new changes I don't agree with in the world like gay marriage (maybe ceremony) but some are nice. Like abolishment of slavery. I will go back to the black internist in the ER but not the white doctor, Bruce Prive, that didn't know what to do or that I should know what is going on who just made me want to transfer out of stupid. But ohhhh the sweet! Robert Plant is coming in August to play his new blues at the Sunflower Fest in Clarksdale! Too bad Sonny Boy was on that corn liquor and mean to him back in the 60's lol ;)

We've come a long way. Some changes are good, some are not. I just look for a good shot in the scheme of things  ;)

LIGHT A DARK VOYAGE

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Odd how I can be thrown from one end of the spectrum to the other but find congruencies. Like the last blog playing 'This Must Be the Place" by Talking Heads where the one lamp comes on. It wasn't until after I published it I noticed only one lamp on in a photo of an antique print I uploaded :l Or the sermon about the 'Good Shepard' when we got home that Sunday with my daughters dog and our pets? Or how my trip to Tampa had me road whooped and sobbing in a hyperventilated way only to board the ship that chased a storm out to sea causing everyone to comment on how it was one of the roughest waters they had sailed on only to end in light? (one woman sailed 27 times and this was top 3 of her 'queasiest' experiences!)

I slept the first day at sea and after the hard journey there after surgery with only 1.5 hr. of sleep in 36 hrs....nothing to eat my first night in Tampa...I needed it! A night and a day of it!! My schedule was off and had me up at 2 am the next night sitting on open deck on this huge ship chasing a storm, bobbing and swaying reminding me of when I would sail on a 36 ft. auxillary craft in the New Orleans regatta's in lake ponchartrain. We would all go sit on one side of the boat trying to throw our weight to the side up in the air to keep the thing from keeling over. The difference was it was in a lake with other sailboats close by!! A horrid rough start alone at night on rough seas in the dark on what seemed to be a Godless voyage. I wondered what I got myself into, regretted it, and yet my heart wasn't up for prayer since the surgery :( I thought if this is God's will to leave me abandoned like this...there was nothing I could do but hope Paros would be ok when I arrived home.

CC: Pardise Lobby

Funny how that morning everything did a 180. Sea was calm, storm gone off the news, everyone about, and a Luthern woman named Paula approached me and asked if I wanted her to pray for blessings in healing! I told my neighbor and congregation I'd find a prayer group since the boat had no chapel! And there she was; like a light out of nowhere that found me :} Right in the lobby in the center of the ship for God and all to see, we prayed together along between my 2 favorite crew members onboard from Guest Services and the lobby bar (Russian and Ukranian women). It was one of the most beautiful prayers I've heard to date and 2 days later...her husband and her exclaimed how the color had come back to my face :} I just regret I didn't see her again to give her my address or get her email :(((

Paradise Cafe & HD; GC

I claimed that healing and we enjoyed our excursions at the ports we stopped at. I may not have gotten to get into the sea but her prayer, the fresh sea air, clearing weather, fresh grilled fish, walks, shopping were all a part of my speedy recovery. Jim stocked up on hats and TShirts at his favorite island; Grand Cayman. I think he enjoyed it more than St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, virgin islands, Puerto Rico, Grenada....any of them! It was small and quaint, had a Harley and Hard Rock shop next door, Jimmy Buffets 3 blocks down, a beautiful jewelery store (where he tried to buy me the most beautiful clear deep blue ring and bacarat crystal), and awesome lunch spot on the sea with fish fresher than on the cruise ship! Paradise Cafe oddly enough. Same name as our ship :)

The cruise hooked us up with the best tour guides I've ever had...alone or through travel agencies. Everywhere we went we laughed with the group on buses, cabs, trolleys, ferries, and boat. Met a lot of people and exchanged emails. It really wasn't an impressive ship, the food was average to me, and a bit chaotic but certain crew members were exceptional in servicing us, the tour crews were very attentive and professional...especially helping me on and off transports (my spine was still bruised and in pain making it difficult to go up and down stairs not to mention the shattered arm with the plate in the other bone from surgery that week :( ). It definitely made up for the outdated ship, food, angry daughter who I hope was just stressed herself, lack of time and activities I wanted to do with the kids, and that hard hellish road trip in the miata!

And how destined it was for me to reject the ring and crystal! When we reboarded, they had a Thomas Kinkade art auction onboard! The 'Painter of Light'. I had my eye on a couple of pieces, one in canvas but naturally the one I chose was congruent to my experiences; Stairway to Paradise! So that became my souvineer and again, the odd timing of how he died just a week and a half before the cruise on a good friday left me...well...astounded and in disbelief with the peculiar harmonious light transecting my journey that seemed to be ordained by fate.

So with a new moon and knowing God was with me all along, how could it not get better? He delivered me again and I am grateful :} I came home with tons of photos, my pastor name up on the board at our church (not being replaced!), and what I prayed for most...our pet pals :))))  A little lagniappe to boot like souvineers, new friends, outlook, and well...yesterday was a great Mother's day and our Pastors sermon had an awesome message about sacraficial love (John 15/16) with joke, analogies, anecdotes...all components to deliver the message within a great sermon!

Although I cook with rums, wines, bourbons and partake in an occasional high ball...it wasn't meant for me to come home with liquors. I did go a bit over budget but that's ok. We got what we needed the most from this trip. We are older so 'fun' has been more replaced with a 'lovely, nice time full of insight' :}

Well...fingers crossed, friends from Canada will come down and we get to take them to Vieux Carre in New Orleans. No festivals, biker events, Mardis Gras happening but I know we will show them the good stuff with lots of class, history, nature, and cultural interest. Like Napoleon's house, Jean Lafittes Blacksmith shop, Marie LaVeau, The Dungeon (slave dungeon once owned by a deceased virgoian biker friend that was turned into a goth bar that opens at midnight), Madame Pontalba's building with the story of why Jackson statue is tipping his hat there (not many people know this one and whoa the parties on the balcony in college! ;).

Perhaps we'll even stay at Beinville House B&B in the French Quarter if not a bayou or cajun cabin in the swamp with a tour out Atchatafalaya? Like bikes...boats come in cruisers and speed so no loud noisy fast airboat for me! I'm cruisin' to enjoy the scenery and sounds the bayou and swamps hold so how can I not go with Black (a cruising singing old school cajun)?  And maybe even a night in one of the plantations along river road in plantation country headed towards Thibodeaux and Morgan City? :) Bocage, Myrtles, Houma House, Oak Alley, Nottoway, Madewood*, Ormond, Cottage, Butler-Greenwood, Greenwood, Ooooo. Sooo many (not to mention my 2 favs in coming back home in Natchez, MS; Monmouth and Dunleith  :)

Just like storms...how can we forget to hope for God's light to break through and shine on our journey's path? Like Thomas Kinkade's paintings, a kindred spirit with a prayer, or that silver lined cloud?

Thomas Kinkade: 1958-2012
'Stairway To Paradise'

And thanks to my husband and friend for the lovely crystal and China Mother's day :}

 

 

SHATTERED INTENTIONS

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The Sunday before the trip Jim was out of town and I skipped services. I wasn't sure if the new Pastor would be there and the other church we like going to was far off so I opted to clean. I hung pictures and pulled ATT old wires up from the back of my sewing table in the craft so the grandchildren wouldn't trip over anything. When I stood up, the ceiling fan slapped me a couple of times in the head causing me to loose balance and fall over backward...onto the grooming table, onto the swivel chair, onto the dryer stand, then the floor. It would be 2 hours before Jim got home from Indiana to take me to the ER where we found I shattered the bones in my left arm and wrist requiring surgery :/

My daughter and her family arrive the following night and I had made an appt with a bone doctor for Tues so while they are visiting others toward Memphis, I am scheduling surgery for the following day; Wednesday. She had come back with my other grandson who brought roses from my mother's garden that is still lovingly tended by my stepfather. All grandchildren under one roof and something of my mother...how beautiful and priceless this moment was. Even in the mild chaotic frenzy of Shell doing everyone's hair, me preparing for a trip and surgery, Xbox to entertain the boys, it was the kind of bustling about I found pleasurable :} Jim was the only thorn at the time so Shell agreed to accompany me to surgery :)))

Well...of course my problems with anesthesia resulted in me being there all day and night because I just couldn't wake up. I tried hard but my eyes would roll back into my head everytime I opened them so more injections to speed the process up had us out of there 10:00 at night. How horrible it must have been for my daughter to sit there all day and night; going from 5 kids to nothing :l I slam gas in her tank and she gets me something to eat from the drive through on the way home. I also gave her half of my grandmother's Napier costume jewelery she had bought in the 40's when she had her beauty shop out in California. I promised her something else special for the kindness and time she took to start my recovery.

Of course all of my intentions were shattered along with my arm because it would be impossible for me to watch the grandchildren for the 2 days in Tampa or on the cruise. It also broke my plans to swim in the sea, play games with the kids, help with driving....so many things. It must have made her feel she had 6 kids and a large attitude problem we called Jim :l  He started to help on his own by picking up the rental car and putting it on the wrong card I needed cash from so that became another obstacle. Shell had to drive the dogs 2 hours away to Swan Kennels and back. I would rent a car when we got home and pick them up so she could drive straight home to California in return so it worked out ok. I offered to keep her dog for the 3 years they are to be deployed in Japan.

"Egggggg" (Paradise...faberge egg)

I still couldn't figure out why she changed the cruise from embarking in New Orleans which is only 5 hours away to Tampa; 12 hour drive. She said it was cheaper but the gas, time, and rooms it took put us over budget a bit whereas leaving out of NO would have been more cost effective. I did learn she doesn't budget well :l  Lol...I was in my mid 30's before I learned to budget too so my foot came down when approached for more money. I hate telling them no but there needs to be times we do so. I wanted to increase the amount I gave my step granddaughter for her dress by $50 but had to keep it at $100 and the dresses I bought the youngest granddaughter did go a bit over. The boys got their passages paid for and Shell was suppose to go to Tulum. Poor Chris just got a congrats cake and champagne :(

The trip was still nice and even though you could cut the tension in the air with a chainsaw everytime we approached her as Jim would say....we enjoyed little moments with the grandchildren here and there :}  I got to know and bond with the step grandchildren, Arden and Cade, a lot more too and found them to be considerate, reserved, SWEET, and sooo loving!!!  My granddaughter and grandson are still so sweet but predominately more vivacious. Malina would be "FRRRIEEEEENNNNDSSSS!!!" and 'poof '. Off she'd go! Jacob is smart as a whip and very indenpendent but I could see the sweet smile he'd flash when we would talk of the silly songs I make up when they come around :} Cade..oh my gosh...soooo loving and compassionate! A subtle sense of humor but on this trip....he'd flash the biggest smile I've seen him EVER wear in real life or ANY photo so I know they had a blast!!!

We did find it rough on the road since we didn't leave till night fall and had been up all day. They could change drivers but with us at our age in the roadster feeling every bump and only one driver...we HAD to pull over with all the swerving. By morning when we realized my clothes were in the Escalade with my daughter... Jim mentioned Walmart. Oh no. Just look for a Harley sign and there will be a shop right off the interstate. No traffic, no crowds, and although it will cost $15-20 more for slacks or a shirt...convenience is the goal ;)

Shattered plans, bones, intentions. No 'thank yous', sacraficed Jim's 10th harley for now but the main idea was to see them before they move to Japan. I did get to steal a few moments with the kids, view the beautiful carribean sea, and make new friends. Even a few photos I will post next blog where I will mention some awesome services, sights, gifts, etc. The journey started a bit rough, got a bit dark....but the light shown in the end made the trip what it was intended to be all along. View one another more clearly, find love in places not expected, a bit of self discovery, and shine on not the things we wanted...but the things we needed the most :)

I am blessed and grateful for what we did have. Time together, Jim's work and co-workers, love, new friends, safe journey, and dogs to come home to :}

But for the other 2 weeks of vacation this year?  Alone, with dogs, or other grandson? Things that make you go "Hmmmm."