Approaching 50

Today one of my childhood friends turns the big Five-Oh. For some reason there are random birthdays that I can remember, and Lisa’s is one of those days. I can remember Don’s, and of course DJ and BJ. And Ronald, because his is the same as BJ. It’s a big year for us… I wonder if the others got their AARP cards like me? Dennis turned 50 in January, Don in February, and though I didn’t remember her birthday, Susan turned 50 earlier this month. Next in line are BJ and Ronald, me, then DJ. I think Ricky already turned 50 last year. I'm not sure about Bobby's birthday, but he hits it this year too!

There is this movie called Now and Then. It so perfectly personifies my childhood. It’s about four pre-teen girls who ride their bikes all over town, and experience several rites of passage together. The time setting is perfect, and the music is exactly what we were listening to during those years. Sugar Sugar, Knock Three Times, etc. Whitney loved that movie when she was growing up, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I watched the entire movie and declared that we gals must get together and watch it. It is on my list of things to do. Or should I say my Bucket List. DJ, BJ and I vowed that to celebrate turning 50 we would plan a mini-trip and go away for some fun. Time-off issues and family obligations are probably going to prohibit that, but we are tentatively planning a pajama party with lots of popcorn, Coke, and of course the movie. No boys allowed. Just like the old days. Only instead of talking about who we are in love with, and our next spend-the-night party, we will probably be talking about children and grandchildren, careers, and our aging parents. I’m sure we will laugh and reminisce about our small-town adventures, the friends who have passed on, and those with whom we are no longer in touch. I suspect there will be high school yearbooks strewn about the room, and we will laugh hysterically at the hair and clothing styles that were so PERFECT back then. Though I have a few more months until I my ownself reach the milestone, I am enjoying looking back on this half-century of memories. I have indeed been blessed in my life, and though the road has not always been easy, and some of the bumps were more difficult to navigate than others, it has been a good life. Just don’t ask me to ride a bike again. (Right, David?)

On a very sad note, a dear, beautiful friend has lost her battle with ALS. I learned this morning that she has passed from this life into eternity, where she will no longer be enslaved by her disease. She will be able to run with the angels, and brighten heaven’s skies with her beautiful smile and one of the sweetest spirits I have ever known. Thank you Kay, for your example of integrity and beautiful grace as you faced your disease with dignity. Though I didn’t see you often these days, I have loved you all my life. I will see you again, my friend. Until then, say hello to all the home folk for me.

Buzzards

I was probably 18 years old before I ever saw a buzzard up close. My dad and I were driving around and I saw this enormous, horrid, black-turkey-looking thing sitting on a fence post. I was sorta freaking about it and my dad pulled over, thinking something was wrong with me. I asked him what in the WORLD that was and he just laughed at me and told me it was a buzzard. Well, of course I knew what a buzzard was, I had seen them circling in the sky many times before. I guess perspective-wise, I just didn’t realize that if a bird looks that huge flying hundreds of feet in the air, then it must be of gargantuan proportions. Anyway, there are some things that just stay in your memory forever, and my first encounter up close and personal with a buzzard is one of those things.

Fast forward about 30 years. There is a really huge tower on the outskirts of my little town. This has long been a favorite roost for the nasty things. I personally think they are just lazy. From that vantage point, with their eagle-eyes, they can spot a carcass for miles around, and never have to flap their old buzzard wings at all. Anyway, I digress. Monday morning as I drove to work, I noticed the buzzards were gone from the tower. A movement to the left caught my eye, and I was horrified to see thousands of them (well maybe a hundred or so) perched on the rooftop of this nice little farmhouse. And the yard was totally black, so many of them were waddling around on the grass. EWWWW!!!! I was a bit worried, thinking that CSI would be on the scene shortly. Surely something must be dead nearby. Could it be a horse in the barn? A deer? I shuddered to think of the poor woman who lives there all alone. I decided to do my civic duty and notify the authorities if the buzzards were still there that afternoon. Thankfully, a truck was in the yard, and the creatures were back on the tower. Tuesday they were not in the yard. Wednesday I took a different route to work. Yesterday morning, not only were the buzzards back on the roof and in the yard, the three “watch dogs” who live there were lying among them. (I’m certain they were wagging a tail or flapping an ear every so often – to avoid becoming buzzard breakfast buffet.) Okay, so I’m finally getting used to this macabre sight. The varmints are starting to push their limits, though. Today they were not only covering the roof and the yard—they were on the highway and in the ditch beside the road. Fearless little creatures they are- they didn’t even offer to fly away until my car almost hit them! Then they swooped up into the sky, swarming around my car. It was a classic Alfred Hitchcock moment.

I think I’ll change my route to work.


Happy Birthday to my buzzard-identifying Daddy, who today turns 77!! I love you Dad!

Family

Another day closer to Friday! I can’t believe next Friday is the 4th of July- already! The year is whizzing by so fast it almost makes me dizzy. I’m a little sad that we are foregoing yet another family tradition this year. We have always celebrated the 4th at Aunt Joyce and Uncle Gene’s house on Lake Lanier. This year we are postponing the gathering until August. The main reason, is that they, and Aunt Carolyn, are traveling in Switzerland and won’t return until a few days before the holiday. They’ll be nursing some major jet lag, and won’t be up to it. Seems like since Mama Nay and Daddy Bill died our gatherings have gotten fewer and further between. I suppose that is to be expected. Everyone lives such fast-paced lives, and we’re all going in different directions with children, grandchildren, careers, etc. Still, it is sad that long-time family traditions are changing. We used to get together for Mama Nay’s birthday, Daddy Bill’s birthday, Mother’s Day, sometimes Easter, Father’s day, 4th of July, Labor day weekend at Aunt Carolyn’s mountain house, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now it has dwindled down to 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wonder what will happen when all the Snoop Sisters (my collection of aunts) are no longer with us. Seems like we only gather for funerals nowadays. My brother lives just up the road in a neighboring town and it is the rare occasion when we get to see each other. I remember being a kid and the time just crawling by from one day to the next. I guess it has to do with being a grown-up with responsibilities and deadlines. Oh well. I am thankful for every day, and it is great knowing that we have a low-maintenance kind of family. We don’t have to talk every day to remain close. We’re all only a phone call away, and we can circle the wagons for each other with the best of them. I do so dearly love them all and am so blessed to have been placed in such a loving, crazy, fun, nutty, caring and generous family!

And speaking of families, let me share some new grandbaby photos!

Corey's first "real" bath

Way cuter than the hospital "formal" photos, doncha think??

Leyland's first bubble bath

Happy Monday!

Well.. another weekend… survived!! It was busy, as usual, with working, chores and errands. I still have a ton of chores to do (no—I did not work on craft room or bedroom organization this weekend--) Instead of working on my goals for the weekend, I indulged myself in a nice long nap yesterday afternoon before the parental units came over. Whitney invited her dad to come too, since she didn’t get to spend Father’s Day with him. Dustin cooked up some mean burgers and dogs, and we had a nice visit. Leyland put on a little show, running from person to person giving big bear hugs and singing “I love you, You love me, blah babble, blah, babble”. It was the sweetest thing. Of course, only the most discriminating ear could determine what she was actually saying, but she has been going around singing that for days. She stayed with my mom and dad for the last two weeks while Whitney was recuperating from Corey’s arrival, and I suspect it was my mom and dad, not the purple dinosaur, who taught her that song. They do love that little girl!

I have several dates that I’m looking forward to:
1) As mentioned in an earlier post, the gang is planning to scrapbook at the church Friday night. Since I didn’t get my craft room organized, there’s no possible way I can plan for this and corral all my supplies and photos. Most of the girls will be going down early, and it will be 6:30ish before I can get there. By the time I unpack and get my mojo going, they will be pooped and ready to go home. I have decided today that instead of working on my scrapbook, I’m just going to take my camera, my laptop and a pack of CDs and work on photo organization and CD burning. That takes a good while, considering how many photos I have on my laptop. I did that one time before, and got a lot done, and cleanup sure was a lot easier when it was time to go home!
2) Scrapbook Expo is July 11th and 12th. I’m taking Friday the 11th off, and we’re going up for the day. So far, it’s just DJ, Delores and me. Some of the others have family things going on and may not make it.
3) Dr. M. is going to be out of the office 7-21 thru 7-25. I’m taking off Friday 7-25, DJ will be off, and we’re going to scrap all day!
4) Labor Day Weekend!!! Yahoo!! I’m going to the Ritz Treadwell at MB!! I’m leaving Thurs night, and returning home the following Wednesday! It has been three years since I went to the beach. Last time was when DJ and I stayed at the Ritz and had our scrapbook marathon. This time I’m not taking any scrapbook stuff. Just my laptop, my sunscreen, beach paraphernalia and a bottle of wine. Gotta find myself a pretty beach umbrella, though. The ones provided by The Ritz are for the old codgers. Oh.. I forget… I am on the brink of codgerhood my ownself.. but I still must have a brightly colored umbrella. Like the one I had that broke when DJ and I were there. I have pictures. It was not pretty. Anyway, I am pumped about a few days of R&R. Love my kids and grandkids… but it will be fabulous to get away!!!! I’m not sure who will enjoy it more- me or them (they love it when I am away and they have the house to themselves. Imagine that!)

Hooray For The Weekend!

Now that I have essentially wasted, er I mean invested over an hour looking at other blogs, moving stuff around on mine, and responding to some posts on the CKMB, my weekend can now finally begin. I overslept a little bit this morning and got a late start working. How wonderful it is to crawl from my bed, still wearing my jammies, and begin my work. I'm still in my jammies, and my to-do list just keeps getting longer. We'll take the babies out grocery shopping today- first outing with both children together- that could be interesting! Today's goals are to finally get my bedroom back in order, and to finish rearranging my craft room. Everything got piled in there a few weeks ago when I cleaned the carpet, then Corey was born the following weekend and the past two weeks have been pretty crazy. The gang is planning to scrap next Friday night, so I must get in there and organize my bags for that. I'm betting against myself- which of these goals will I make today? Maybe I can work on both of them equally. Gotta do some cleaning up- Mom and Dad are coming for burgers and dogs tomorrow night. My dad was so sweet and drove Whitney and the baby to multiple doctor/lab appointments for the last two weeks. My mom does love herself a good burger on the grill, so we're having them over.

My house is so quiet right now. Only the tap-tap-tap of the keyboard and whirring of the AC. Everyone is napping. Yawn... maybe I'll take a quick one myself before tackling my to-do list. Come on over and have a burger with us tomorrow night!
CathyB

I have no idea what I am doing!

Okay, the main reason I entered into the blogmania was to have a place to upload photos of my family, and when time permits, photos of my scrapbook and card art. Obviously I don't have much time to learn how to get this done, and I have no idea where to start, so today's entry is simply another post for experimentation purposes... to see how it will look on the page. I'd much rather play around on here and figure things out, but alas, my lunch hour has come to an end, and the Writer Of My Paycheck would much prefer that I do things to facilitate his office running smoothly, such as accounts payable, transcribing office notes, and the ever-important delinquent accounts management that hangs over my head like a dark thunderstorm obscuring the daylight. Why won't these people just pay their bill? Or at least send me $2.00 a month so I don't have to call them on the phone and send them nasty letters? Well- on second thought, I guess if there were no delinquent accounts, then I might not be needed as much around this place. And since I do love to eat and live indoors, I suppose I must be grateful for whatever it is that keeps me useful around here. I promise, I will learn how to run this thing and perhaps make it interesting enough for an occasional quick glimpse of what is happening in my world. Have a great day!!!

I have a blog!

And this is my first entry. I'll be back later to work on things. For now, just feel free to browse around and look at ... oh wait... there's nothing to look at yet! Don't worry, soon I'll have pictures of my beautiful grandbabies for you to drool over. I promise, you'll just want to kiss your computer screen, they're so precious!