Remembering con't......

I left off at the living room. It was the depth of the house with windows at the front and floor to ceiling windows at the back looking over the balcony to the yard below. It was cool to lay on the floor looking out those windows when we'd have a thunderstorm. The lightning would illuminate the yard and we would scream and giggle at being so scared. There were 2 white upholstered chairs without arms, by those windows and there were sheer curtains that usually were drawn. The sofa was this big overstuffed Mauve? (ugly Pink), there were marble topped end tables and coffee table. At that time my Mom and Dad smoked so we had the silver set of ashtray, lighter and cigarette holder on the coffee table. The end tables had lamps that had exqusite marbled glass globes on the bases I believe they were Italian. My brother Whitney, broke one many years later when my folks moved to Florida. There was a wing back chair in the corner by the front hallway. This chair had a great view of the front yard and I remember sitting in that chair a lot. When I had chicken pox and had to be home I sat there and watched the world going by. I sat there for the mumps and the measles. I would sit there waiting on our Dr. who made house calls, Dr. Mooney. I was one of those kids with chronic ear infections and sore throats. Also in the living room was a 3 drawer cabinet that was shiny black enamel with gold trim on the drawers. The Wall behind that dresser was brick and the fireplace was on this wall, it had a metal curtain that kept the embers from bouncing out. On top of the black chest were a lamp with a white marble base and narrow black lampshade. Also dad's candy dish was there and it always had those pink wintergreen wafers they were Dad's favorite. On the wall above the fireplace was a Brass wind up clock. It was in a starburst shape and had a curved glass door that you opened to wind it up. There was a tall brass candlestick with a white candle, a brass thing that mom kept the paper for starting fires in and of course the set of fireplace tools. Mom also had an old fashioned bed warmer with an ornate design on the brass pot part and a long handle that was fancy, having been lathe turned. Later when I got older the piano was in this room too. This room was also medium green. Well tomorrow I'll try to finish the upstairs before I take you on the Basement tour......

Remembering the little things....

I'm sitting here going over some memories in my head. The reason I think I have such recollection is that the memories play like a movie as I think about them. I was thinking about my first home I lived in in York, Pa. The house was at 185 Sharon Drive, near the Hospital. It was a young neighborhood at the time, early 60's, New homes along with some older homes on the streets behind my house. My Dad was an architect and a professional engineer. He designed the house we lived in and even to this day I believe it was ahead of its time for it's design. I'll give you the tour...... A two car garage that had a very large crack in the floor causing part of the slab to sink, was a result of torrential rains during Hurricane Hazel, the ground settled and the slab went with it. Dad was a handyman and he was always washing and waxing the car. He Loved turtle wax. I remember him showing me how to dab some on a rag from the bottle, I really can smell it as I write this and see the green color. He showed me how it would buff out slight scratches in the paint. Dad always drove Chevy Impalas that were his work cars. He really liked the light tan/dark tan color and we had quite a few different year models that were the same color. Then you walked into the hall of the kitchen area. The staircase for the basement family room was on your left and the front bathroom was on your right. Now this bathroom was pink and black trimmed tile with a shower, sink and toilet. It really was kind of Dad's bathroom. Dad had built a clothes chute to the laundry room below from this room. Those cabinets were painted black too. The color scheme was your typical 50's type. What we call retro now!!! The tile on the kitchen floor was a dull brown color with small flecks of other dull colors. The kitchen was really modern, we had a dishwasher, the kind that opened by sliding a big drawer out, the front was real wood and there was a spinning rack on top for the glasses. There was a small grey formica drop leaf table with 2 chairs in that part of the kitchen and Dad built a breakfast Nook with built-in seats that had storage under them. Kind of like what you find in travel trailers now. The upholstery was a burnt orange color, I believe it might have been called "pumpkin". Across from that Dad built a pantry and desk that was hidden by closet doors when not in use. The door to the Dining room was a pocket door, you know, the kind that slides into the wall when opened. The Dining Room and Living room had neutral grey carpet, the Dining room walls were a medium green. There was a cabinet and 3 drawers built into the wall on the kitchen side that was for the china and other entertainment items. The living room was separated by a red brick planter that was part of the wall with the fireplace in the livingroom. We used to keep living plants in there. I remember there were philodendron and draceana, every year at the tri-state fair, Dad would buy us chamelions from Florida and we would let them live in the planter. We sprayed the leaves with water and fed them meal worms from the pet store. Well the tour ends here for today, I'll start with the living room tomorrow, Mom, I hope you're reading this, this is for you and Dad, Love ya....

Blogger Buzz: Concerning the Historie and Nature of Blogs of Note

Blogger Buzz: Concerning the Historie and Nature of Blogs of Note

This is the day!!!!

Well today is the day we kick off the start of our fundraising for the new animal shelter our church is going to build for this county and surrounding area. I have been googling all morning getting leads on grants available and other information to help in our venture. The clock has started and my goal of Groundbreaking in December of this year is in sight. All things are possible!!!I have been testing the waters with people I know in town as to our project and I have met with only enthusiam for our project. We won't let them down. The huge ammount of feral cats and dumped dogs is unimaginable and because we are a rural area it is impossible to catch these people so the only thing we can do is try to help rescue those populations and start an agressive spay/neuter program to address the issue. Our shelter will be a NO KILL and all animals will be dealt with humanely. Only severely injured and animals in obvious distress will be humanely euthanized. all others, even ill-tempered animals will have a home with us until an adoptive family comes along for the ones able to go to new homes.We will have large animal facilities also as there are horses, goats and other larger animals, including wildlife, in need in our area. Please help us achieve our goal, it will mean a better community for us and the humane treatment of all animals in our area. Keep watching, I'll be updating our progress in the weeks to come.

They're Here.......

Picked the first tomatoes yesterday at the shop, I am getting ready to head for the farmers market where I set up on Saturdays. I'll get photos of the Bag Lady Garden soon, I'm even going to see if I can get the local paper to check it out! Gotta Run!.....

I know, I know, I missed days already!!!!!........

Well I've been busy, good news, our church is almost a 501(c)3 and we are going to build a fantastic animal shelter as the funds make themselves available, I'll keep you posted. Today I am reading the note I left myself as to the things I most wanted to post about today.(see... I THOUGHT about posting!!!) I've been watching those VISA commercials lately, you know the ones, where our cash isn't any good any more. Is it just me or is this a scary thought? What happens to us poor suckers that don't have plastic or don't want plastic, or have no credit or bad credit leaving us without plastic. Do you see a pattern here? Is Big Brother doing such a good job that the sleeping masses are allowing this outrage? People.....YOUR MONEY HAS BECOME TERMINALLY ILL! while you watch. The government has blown the idea of a legal tender system to smithereens!!! If you aren't hard-wired to their system, soon, and very soon, you will be the outsiders, the ones the government is hoping to starve or kill off, we are the FREE THINKERS of the world and that, my friends, make us government enemy number one. I can't speak for my parents but I really believe since they've had 70+ years to see this happen they are afraid for their grandkids who will inheirit this type of world. I guess it's the old hippie in me, the protest attitude of the 60's and 70's I grew up with that fuels my outrage. We are no longer the home of the free. We are definitely the home of the brave as the days that are ahead would scare a less hearty person to death. Why did they ever mess with the Constitution, why did we let them? I just want you to THINK about this seriously, Common Sense to the people, commercials on TV are cutesy, moronic, and beneath most peoples intellect, yet we laugh, chuckle and let this blatant propoganda slide into our homes and lives, Start Paying Attention, see these things for what they are.... the government is dumbing us down to their level and it's working. WAKE UP America, before they take it from us!!!

Do You Ever Have One of Those Days?

Well, I guess this serves me right, I am supposed to post every day, I skip 2 days and karma is kicking me in the butt again. Our Suburban that we bought just 2 months ago has been in the shop a week now and probably will be a few weeks more, you know the major surgery kind of work... the crankshaft is out of town having a face peel or something along those lines, the carbuerator( this is an 85 model) needs a rebuild or so and we'll probably get it back in time for Christmas!!!! LOL . I have a 1990 Bronco II, the B-2 for short, and I just had brakes put on a week or so ago and yesterday the right front caliper decides to stage a sit-in in the on position. My good friend Cindy, you know, the one with the Yoda dog, now has a deep channel etched in her gravel driveway where my front wheel refused to turn as I backed out and I carved a very NOT needed aquaduct in her down hill driveway. She still loves me! She just shakes her head in amazement at the things I get into. So I call my son (the Mechanic) who is home from work by now and ask him to come back to town and try to release the brake and at least give his mother a ride home if that failed. So I get the jack out while I wait, I'm in a mini-sun dress but I don't want my kid to think I'm a lazy girly girl so I take off the tire. Now I must have driven a ways on it stuck, because I branded myself with the lug nuts! As I took each one off, Cindy watching over my shoulder, doing all my worrying for me, she says, each time I say OW shit! " Don't do that!!" ... OW shit!..." Don't do that!"....OW, shit!.... there are 5 of these darlings on here. I believe all the people driving by are getting a good view, (remember the mini-dress?) but Cindy's the only one worrying, so I'm good!!!And I even wore panties today! It's 95 in the shade and heat index is out of sight, I am dripping sweat (yes this lady sweats, I don't perspire) so I go in to Cindy's and drink all the ice tea, hell I just grab the jug and back out the door I go. The jug is right here beside me as I write, guess I'll return it tomorrow. My son is on the ground by now wrestling with a lug wrench trying to convince the caliper to give it up. Have you ever played tug of war with a pit bull? kinda the same principle. As I could tell this was not a battle to be won today I said nicely, Let's wait, I'll get it tomorrow, (James was already hot, sweaty, and greasy from work so I didn't want to push him to violence against the B-2) and he gladly agreed. He locked everything up, we said our goodbyes and left for home. I called today for the part and of course I was told the computer says we have it, but we don't ,so we'll order it and you will have it first thing tomorrow. Now not a problem, Barry has the Harley, weather's great, he'll run me to get the part and to the propane store as today is the last day to pay for winter prepaid propane at summer prices. We have to go to town, 10 miles the opposite direction to get a check at the bank and then go 30 miles the other way to the propane store. About 1 mile from town on our way back from the bank, the bike dies. We coast to the shoulder, gas, check, power, check, wait 2 minutes we're back on the road, probably just some bad gas. 2 more miles we die again... ok now what, the old man is still cool, sit a minute and away we go again. Well luckily our good friends Orie and Margaret live close, and he is The Best Mechanic alive, we have proof! We "stop and go" the 4 more miles to their house, it's early because we wanted to beat the heat and Orie sleeps late. ...NOT TODAY!!!!! As the old man revs the bike, Margaret, The shop Boss and Orie's Old Lady, comes storming out to read us the riot act as she is expecting one of the idiots who disregard the fact Orie sleeps late, When she saw it was us she actually smiled and said I'll go get him up! (Oh yeah, we hadn't seen Orie in a while and yesterday he stopped to see us at the shop and asked the old man "How's the Bike running?"... was fine 'til you asked....Thanks).... Well after checking connectors, rebuilding our carb, changing the oil, Only because he takes good care of the old man, He finally finds the problem, His ignition is on it's last legs, this is a 94 model that Barry has had since it was new and since we haven't rode it in a while , it was giving us the cold shoulder and demanding new parts, ok ok we'll ride you more baby!!! Well if you do the math, the suburban in the shop the B-2 stranded and the Bike waiting for parts we are now walking!!!! Margaret, bless her heart, loans us her car, (since she just got a brand new one ), and we are now at home on the day before my day off and I have decided to hang out and get some much needed housework done, and yes, there will be a post every day I promise,... (at this moment) and hopefully my Karma will calm down and be nice.

Post Script to It Ain't the age........

Oh yeah, the icing on the cake to my knee deterioration had to be in 1997-1999 when, as a wife and business owner, I attended a professional wrestling school in Bentonville , Arkansas. As Jeff Foxworthy might say......You Might be A Redneck if Your Wife's Having A Midlife Crisis, and Decides to Become A Professional Wrestler!!!! I was 40 years old. It started when a promoter entered my tattoo shop and asked me to be a sponser for their wrestling school and all the shows they were doing. In the 70's in Georgia I was a fan of Georgia championship Wrestling with Gordon Solie, I loved Bob Armstrong, the Fabulous Freebirds, Dean Malenko, Dusty Rhodes, The Assassins 1 and 2, the Iron sheik, and Mr. Wrestling.A young new wrestler, Terry Taylor was one of my favorites and I had the pleasure of meeting and working with his Dad in Vero Beach, FL, his dad nicknamed me Seashell because of the seashell necklace I wore all the time....(Small World, huh?) So many more, it was the heyday for professional wrestling, before Vince McMahon went and ruined it for all of us, including the wrestlers. This promoter took me to the school which was just up the street from my shop at that time. I got to watch what most people never see, the training a wrestler goes through, mainly to avoid injuries, but this has caused the business to be labelled "fake". Trust me, there is nothing fake about it except maybe the soap opera story lines. Every kid I met and some not so young, paid for every match with their blood and guts. This is where the saga of my knees continues. As I watched the exercises and the practice I thought to myself, and maybe I may have mentioned it outloud, that "I can do that!!!". The Promoter said, come on up in the ring and try it. Now being the ham that I am, I bounded to the ring, climbed in and was introduced to Dexter Hardaway and Malice, stage names of course, and these 2 guys from Tulsa showed me how they teach what is known as a Back Bump. The final move is supposed to look like your feet are knocked out from under you and you end up on your back, simple huh! Nah. If a person can't do it themselves on the first try, a student gets against the back of your legs on their hands and knees and the instructor firmly pushes you backwards. The trick is to tuck your head forward and land squarely on the flat of your back with your legs in the air. Well I let them do this to me and everything went fine except I didn't tuck and I now knew what it meant to "see stars! " Well this should have discouraged any person with any Common Sense (see the thread?) but it only fueled the "center of attention" part of my makeup and I immediately enrolled in the school! I was faithful to school and I even practiced on days we didn't have class, of course it took me three weeks to learn new things where the young guys took 3 minutes to pick up the new stuff, They were very patient with me, I guess I was like "mom" to some of them and the other ones wanted tattoos, anyway I was accepted as one of the guys. One instructor groomed me for more advanced things for my debut match. It was in Fort smith, Arkansas and our promoter had Hector Guerrero, Jim, the Anvil, Niedhart (who never showed), Terry ,Bam Bam, Gordy of Fabulous Freebird Fame and Dan, the Beast, Severn. The midgets Bobby Love and Little Kato were on the ticket. Dino, the chick I wrestled, was a very good wrestler. Well The match went well, one minor problem was discovered after I was thrown around awhile....at age 40, a person should go pee before they are to be thrown around like a rag doll! The "crowning" glory of my match was when I took a headshot with a metal chair from The Assassin, to end the match! I have it all on really bad home video and it's cool everytime I watch it! Hector Guerrero even complemented me on my wrestling, he was surprised to learn it was my debut, he told me I should stick with it. The guys from class watching from behind the curtain were awed, in school no one was allowed chair shots until they were further along so I won their respect as the old lady who could wrestle!!!! I quit in 1999 after the 3rd time of being stiffed by a promoter. There is no money in wrestling and the guys and girls that do this do it for the love of the sport. Common Sense kicked in, weekends were the money making times of my business so wrestling sank quietly into the archives of my life, to be called upon when feeling low or just needing a chuckle when life was being difficult, I would still be doing it, I just couldn't make a living at it, I really loved the sport! Check out the photos from this time, Hi! to Malace and Dexter and RIP Terry, we miss you....

It ain't the Age, It's the Mileage!!!!

Last night was the first time I have ever had trouble sleeping. My legs were giving me fits, my knees and ankles (which are about shot at this stage of the game) were aching unmercilessly. I tossed and turned, throwing blankets and sheets willy, nilly, I even ran the dog out of bed and out to the couch. When first light came creeping in I tried to get up and realized my knees and ankles and big toes were extremely stiff, swollen and painful. More so than I have ever experienced, so much I panicked and slowly made my way to the living room. I felt so strange I immediately wanted to go to the emergency room. Now let me tell you, I am no hypochondriac and I hardly ever get sick, but when my physical body starts to give up the ghost, I freak! I know I am only 50 years old but the mileage on these old bones is horrendous. When I was young I was a tomboy. My 1st mother died when I was 8 and Dad proceeded to teach me all about baseball. I was the best baseball player in the neighborhood, and at school I was the first person picked (by the boys!!!) to be on a team. I suffered sprains, broken noses, skint knees, and I ate dust many times sliding, thus began the downfall of my skeletal support system. I rode my bicycle everywhere, remember, this was the 60's, you never stayed indoors, unless it was a torrential downpour, for any reason. I know this strained my knees even while boosting my cardio and muscle systems. In High School I was a swimmer, Volleyball player, the goalie on my Field hockey team and gym was my favorite subject after English. ( okay, so I'm a little strange ) and I even ran track, I was never as good at any of these sports as I was at Baseball, but I still gave everything I had. My knees and ankles were paying the price.Then when I first started college in Florida, one of my friends took me to a strip joint and dared me to dance. I was hooked, do something you love and have money thrown at you was my kind of thing, I quit school and became an exotic dancer. Now in the 70's and early 80's platform shoes of ungodly heights were the standard issue for us dancers. The more you could bend and turn in them the more money you made. I did this for 7 or 8 years and my knees were deteriorating without much fanfare. Oh yeah, I forgot about the stint in boot camp, in 1977, on crutches when I hyperextended my knee , more fodder for the fire! Then I was a cop and attended Police Academy, back to physical training and marching, wonderful therapy for knees already starting to creak when asending staircases. In the 80's it was Disco, in the 90's it was bowling and that's when I started to have to wear an assortment of ace bandage supports and learned to love the fragrance of Icy Hot!!! It was mid 90's the first time my knee "went out" on me. I was walking across the bowling alley floor and the next thing I knew I had a close up of the neon cosmic bowling carpet. No pain, No warning and no way to stand up. I was on a cane for weeks. Of course I didn't go to a Doctor, I had no insurance and I am tough. What the Hell, there wasn't any blood or guts involved so I knew I'd live! This continues to this day, sneaking up on me when I least expect it, sometimes I go 6 or 7 months without a twinge then I walk down the stairs wrong and I am in excruciating pain for weeks, and on a cane. Well, the moral of this story is......... you can take life easy and go out with your body still intact and beautiful, or you can take life by the horns and hang on with all your heart for the craziest ride of your life, you'll definitly be worse for the wear, everything falling apart or down, and you may not stick around as long, but By God, you will have lived everyday as your last and have some killer memories, and that's what my life is all about!!!!

It's Been A really Long Day!!!

Man, am I glad today is winding down! First, it took all the willpower in my little pinky (since that's the only place I have any left) to make myself go to the shop today. Picked up my good friend Cindy and her sidekick Dallas, ( a chihuahua with the demeanor of Yoda, no jest!!) and we opened the shop, watering all the herb plants for sale and my "Bag Lady Garden". Now for those of you who have no idea of what that may be, let me enlighten you. I was watching the Today show (which I do most every day) and the ONE day I paid attention, there was a garden spot that mentioned for people who were late starting gardens or those with limited room, ( or just lazy people like me!!!), you could buy a 40 pound bag of potting soil, cut an X on one side and plant your starter plants, one per bag, and voila! instant garden, just add water and sunlight! Well as with everything in my life, I have to go overboard, and since I spend a lot of time in town at the shop I decided to do this in town along the chain-link fence across the front of my rock yard. I managed to plant 2 bags with cucumbers, 2 bags with mint, and 20, yes 20 bags of tomatoes!!! Now they are just coming on, no ripe ones yet but I believe that pretty darn soon I will have tomatoes coming out my ears and other various orifices, We'll see........ I'll post a photo after they start to ripen.....

Her Response

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Mom's response, A raised eyebrow.............so we will see!

The Start of Something Big!!

Welcome to my world, be prepared to scratch your head in wonderment as my writing probably rambles as bad as my thoughts, usually 200 mph and hard to collaborate into anything intelligent. The reason for my jumping into this "blogging thing", and the birth of "The Common Sense Tour" was my trip this past Father's Day Weekend to Florida at my mother's request. She was having health problems related to the drug Fossamax, and as I am studying for a degree in Naturopathy (Another of those lifetimes)I was concerned and was telling my mom to get off that stuff! Well, she believed me, for a change (more about that later) and flew me to Florida so I could accompany her to her Dr.s appointment and be her backbone as she told him what she was going to do. Now while I was on this little escapade, many things were going through my head, (remember the 200 mph?) I had a spirited conversation with her physician that resulted in mutual respect for each other, and one of the Wonderful sayings out of my mouth kinda wrapped back around and rapped me on the head like hey you, listen to what you are saying!!! it actually makes lots of sense. What I said was, in response to her Dr's comment that the drug companies wouldn't risk all these lawsuits on new drugs, that's why the drugs are well tested; and to that I said" The drug companies push new untried drugs through to the public, make billions those first 3-4 years then when the drugs start screwing people up, (since the public is the actual lab rat) they set "millions" aside for lawsuit settlements, and that still constitutes a profit on the side of the big drug companies. Well Duh!! It smacks of common sense that we should not allow this. I jokenly told my mom that she just gave me the inspiration for a new soapbox and that as I now possess the common sense my mother so often chided me about, I believe people can be shown the way to live from their experiences, paid in common sense, if they will only change the way they perceive their worlds. And.. I'm willing and hoping to do this in person, giving talks to anyone who will have me as a speaker.